Albus Potter's Normalcy Is Shaken Maybe
by Witty Eagle Proud Ravenclaw
Summary: 4th year starts with a bang for Al Potter. A crush which could get him in quite the pickle, trying to live an upbeat life, and a wacky cousin as Head Girl. Shaken normalcy indeed! Al/Rose, Lily/Lysander, James/OC. Now complete w/epilogue chapter!
1. Dazed and Confused

**Dazed and Confused**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. This story came to me after deciding to take up a NextGen idea put forward by a reviewer. Thanks to Brin Hearts Harry for putting the idea in my brain and making me go forward with this Albus/Rose story. **

"See you Rosie." Fourteen-year-old Albus Severus Potter stepped forward and hugged his cousin. Rose Weasley smiled - Albus was always so affectionate. Neither of them knew - well, six people (Harry, Ginny, Albus, Ron, Hermione and Rose) didn't know - that a blue-haired Metamorphagus was smirking and snickering silently.

"Bye Albus. See you on the train." Rose grinned. The Weasleys walked out, Harry and Ginny giving them a wave as the two redheads and brunette Apparated. The Potters walked out of the hallway. Teddy walked over to Albus - a grin on his face.

"Well, well, _well_." he laughed. Albus raised an eyebrow - what was Teddy getting at?

"Come on, Al. Don't ignore my point." Teddy said. Albus looked blank - he was confused. Teddy sighed - when was that boy going to wake up and smell the coffee?

"Al, the other members of the family may be a trifle blind in noticing it, but_ I _know."

"Know what?" Albus asked. Teddy's hair changed to a clear vibrant medium pink.

"That you like Rose, silly." he laughed, a booming laugh that came from his chest.

"Wha- me liking Rose- what, as in _like _like, as in more than a cousin?" Albus asked.

"Bingo." Teddy said. The Metamorph swore that a faint blush adorned Al's cheeks.

"Teddy, you're crazy. I don't like Rose in that way. Besides, even if I _did_ like her-"

"_Do_ you?" Teddy asked, wanting Al's full honesty. Nothing changed in his looks.

"I-I-I don't know Ted. Hell, she's so sweet and beautiful, but she's my _cousin_ too!" This exclamation sent Albus into heavy breathing afterwards. Teddy looked thoughtful. Time to dish out some helpful godbrotherly advice to the stricken boy.

"Look Al. I'm not really good on the advice thing, but I try. And the thing I can think of that might help you might not seem clear, but it's the best thing that comes to mind."

"Anything, Teddy. I feel so dazed and confused about this." Albus replied.

"Just listen to what your heart tells you. Secret passions never go away." Teddy said. Albus thought about it. Teddy could be on to something - but it still confused him.

"Alright. On the train I'll corner Rose and talk about my feelings." he smiled. Teddy beamed. He'd seen for years how Al had been closer to Rose than any of the others.

"Splendid! Albus and Rose sitting in a tree!" Teddy sung, his eyes shining.

"Keep your voice down!" Albus implored - his parents both had good hearing. He loved Rose, he really did, moreso than in a cousin way, and he had to gather the courage to confess his feelings deep inside him. But he'd do it one way or another.

"Good luck Al." Teddy grinned as he went to say goodbye to Harry and Ginny.

"I'm going to _kill_ that sneaky son-of-a-werewolf." Albus growled later. His parents laughed. Well, Harry laughed. Ginny was split between curiousity and amusement.

"And why _is_ that?" Ginny asked. Albus stiffened and thought about what to tell her.

"If all goes well, you'll find out at Christmas." he replied. Sept 1st dawned bright.

"Ready for another year at Hogwarts Albie?" Rose laughed, elbowing him fiercely.

"You know it Rosey-Rose." he chuckled, a light in his emerald-green eyes.

"Urrrgggh! Enough with the pet names you two! Christ!" James exclaimed. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione burst out laughing. Albus gave Rose a mock glare.

"Oh _what?_ Because I'm _already_ in my school robes?!" she exclaimed. Lily snorted - the youngest Potter was starting her second year, and_ didn't _plan on taking after Rose. After the hubbub of boarding the train and family goodbyes, the students boarded the train. Albus was giving Lily a look. Lily responded with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" she asked. Albus smirked - he was going to enjoy teasing her with this.

"Off to find _darling _Lysander?" he asked, positively beaming - he found this amusing.

"Don't make me hex you, Al. Lysander and I are _friends_." Lily replied. Albus laughed.

"Pur-_leeeeeease_. You're smitten with him." the green-eyed boy said.

"Awwww. Little Lily's growing up." Rose crooned, ruffling Lily's hair. The smaller redhead pouted, and walked to her compartment, leaving Albus and Rose giggling. As they sat down in their compartment, the two cousins resumed conversation.

"So... Lily's smitten with Lysander, hmm? I thought they were pals." Rose said.

"Lil puts up that guise, but you should see the light in her eyes when she looks at him. It's a classic example of someone feeling deeper for their best friend. Actually-" Albus was interrupted by a knock on the door and the entrance of a seventh-year.

"Oh _Allllbussss?_" Dominique sang. Albus growled. Dom spelt T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

"G'away." the black-haired boy mumbled menacingly. Dominique tapped her foot.

"Albus Severus Po-" but the strawberry-blonde was stopped by Rose's piercing look.

"Just _what_ is going on?" she asked. Dom wiggled her eyebrows. Albus led her away.

"So...?" he asked once he and Dominique were in the corridor. The senior laughed.

"Teddy told me, Al. So? You like Rose, huh? Interesting. Some might say _sneaky_-"

"Dom, stop it. I genuinely love Rose, and none of your Veela tricks, OK?" Albus queried. As the Head Girl thought about it, the two spotted a streak of dark-blonde - the middle Potter guessed the mystery girl hadn't heard a thing of these whispers.

"Alright, _alright_ kiddo. Good luck!" Dom beamed, hugging Al. Albus walked back into his compartment. Rose beamed at him. Al felt something flutter lightly inside him.

"So actually what, Al?" she asked, her brown eyes twinkling a fair bit. "Actually?" Albus asked. Rose rolled her eyes - he was just completely clueless.

"You said 'it's a classic example of someone feeling deeper for their best friend actually', and then Dom walked in." Rose said. Albus clicked what she meant.

"Actually Rose, I wanted to talk to you about something incredibly serious. It's just-"

"Hey you two." James' voice rang through the compartment as he poked his head in.

"James, Cynthia, I was just about to discuss something with Rose." Albus said, registering that he'd seen Cynthia's dark-blonde streaks in the corridor earlier.

"Oh. In that case we'll leave. We just wanted to check on you." Cynthia replied.

"We're doing fine." Rose smiled - James had really found a good catch in the blonde.

"Oh Rose! Giving poor Cynth the cold treatment! Reminds me of-" but James halted.

"James, I think we've heard that story from our parents, not to mention Aunt Luna." _Trust Albus to play the nostalgia card_ Rose thought. James and Cynthia walked off.

"Right, Al. Spit it out before we're stalled again." Rose laughed. Albus swallowed.

"Rosie, what Lily's feeling for Lysander... it's cliché, but we've all been told that it's typical to feel more-than-friendly towards a close friend sometimes." he proclaimed.

"Hmm... using my _detective_ skills-" Rose paused to laugh "-I'm guessing you feel romantically inclined towards a female friend right now?" the redhead pondered.

"Yes... I do." Albus stuttered back - he didn't know whether to keep her in the dark.

"Right... do you love Annie?" Rose asked. Albus snorted - Annie was great, but no.

"Annie? Rose, don't get me wrong, she's lovely, but Neville would just plain kill me." Rose considered her cousin's reply - Neville would give a fair warning to anyone who tried to get close to his daughter. That didn't change the fact that Annie Longbottom was a positive soul and very friendly. She had inherited Hannah's bubbliness.

"Hmmm... " but Rose's thought train was stopped by a Hufflepuff coming in.

"Hey you two!" Annie Longbottom exclaimed. Albus groaned - this was getting_ silly_.

"Speak of the devil." he muttered. Annie's face had a quizzical look from Al's quip.

"What do you mean 'speak of the devil'?" she asked. Rose smiled rather sneakily.

"We were just talking about you." the redhead said. Annie flopped down on the seats, her pigtails bouncing a bit as she sat down. Rose could sense Albus' urgency.

"Tell you what Anne, why don't you check where the lunch trolley is while Al and I talk, hmmm? You can mingle with us straight after, OK?" the redhead asked.

"OK!" Annie said, sprinting out of the compartment. Albus sighed sarcastically.

"_What _are we going to do with her?" he asked, laughing. Rose laughed with him.

"I just don't know. Anyway... are you crushing on Katherine Macmillan?" she asked. Albus shook his head - he got on with Katherine well, but he didn't really see the brunette Ravenclaw in _that_ way. Rose was really starting to run of options here.

"You said it's one of your female friends, Al. But I can't think who you'd see in-"

"Maybe it's my closest female friend." Albus said, blushing like a complete maniac.

"Merlin... oh _Albus_!" Rose exclaimed - she was truly shocked out of her mind.

"Yes, Rosie. It's you. Merlin, you have no idea how much I love you." Albus said. Rose was in happy tears. Next thing he knew, Albus was strangled in a fierce hug.

"Albus, I love you too. Sometime last year I started to feel more-than-cousinly love for you." Rose squeaked. Albus patted her on the back, also kissing her head.

"The lunch trolley isn't here yet." Annie's voice jerked the cousins out of their hug.

"Annie!" Albus shrieked. Annie laughed, her aqua eyes alight with fierce humour.

"You know you can't turn into a flowering shrub to keep away from me." she said.

"Touché, Miss Longbottom." Albus laughed - he got the Hufflepuff's joke instantly.

"You can have a guess at who I passed on the way back." Annie asserted, smirking.

"James and Cynthia getting up to no good?" Rose wondered. Annie shook her head.

"Nope!" she said, popping the 'p'. "As it happens, I saw Lily getting rather friendly with a certain Lysander Scamander." she finished. Al grinned a very evil grin indeed.

"I _knew _it!" he proclaimed, punching the air. Rose laughed very heartily.

"Lily always used to tell me her and Lysander would end up incredibly close at the hip because it was in their blood." she chuckled - Lily had been a right dreamer back then. Albus half-groaned - honestly, Lysander had rubbed off on Lily _way_ too much.

"Actually, now I come to think about it, Lil made sense with that, Rose. The common myth is that my mum decided on Lily's middle name when my dad decided on her first name. Truth be told, it was the other way around. And Luna named Ly 'Lysander Harry' in return. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Lily invited Lysander to a festive ball." When Albus finished, Rose realised what he meant by the festive ball invitation.

"Aunt Ginny is _sooo_ going to _slaughter_ you for that." she said. Albus looked passive.

"Wh- come _on_ Rose. We_ all _know that it was a 'just friends' Christmas date." he said.

"What are you two talking about?" Annie asked. Albus smiled at her mischievously.

"My dad inviting Luna to Slughorn's party at Christmas '96." he said. Annie grinned.

"Ginny gets paranoid easily, doesn't she?" the bubbly girl asked. Albus and Rose nodded. Rose yawned. Albus sighed, a smile on his face - he knew instantly.

"Rosie, if you want to go to sleep, just tell me." he smiled. Rose stretched her joints.

"Th-thank you Al-Albie." Rose yawned, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Annie giggled. Albus looked at her. Annie glanced at him, and then at Rose, and smirked, raising her eyebrows knowingly. Albus dismissively shook his head, careful not to knock Rose. He could see Annie mouth 'liar'. Dom turned up in a half-hour, smirking at Al - she knew he'd admit it to Rose, and it'd change their bond.

"Look at Rose resting on you Al. Aww, all lovey-dovey." she laughed. Annie snorted.

"You knew?" she asked the Head Girl. Dominique nodded, throwing her hair back.

"Yep. Teddy told me." she said. Albus growled. Dom and Annie left snickering loudly.

Some time later, the platinum-blonde head of one Scorpius Malfoy poked through.

"Hello Albus." he said. Albus registered the newcomer - the first two years at Hogwarts had been solidly frosty between them - Al saw Scorpius as stuck-up and evil. But in third-year he had started to change, and they'd have conversations every once in a while. Back to reality, Al sensed that Rose had nudged him in her sleep.

"Look Scorpius, Rose is deep in dreamland, and I'd like to get forty winks myself."

"OK. I'll see you in the carriages." Scorpius said, walking away. Rose mumbled something. Albus heard her clearly. Unless he was very much mistaken, she'd said 'I love Albie Potter with all my heart'. As for Al, his own heart soared as he lifted her off of him to lay her down. He changed into his robes (Rose was snoring her head off, so it didn't matter), then sat down on the opposite seats and drifted off to sleep.

"Albus, wake up..." a female voice said. Albus creaked one eye open. Rose was beaming at him with a tray of food in her hands. He moved, his body jerking awake.

"Katherine brought us some food off the trolley." Rose said, pausing to bite into a Chocolate Cauldron. Albus hugged Rose, his brain swimming with her new feelings.

"Albie, if you're going to hug someone, hug Katherine for the food." Rose laughed.

"OK, I will. Oh by the way, you snore your head off." the black-haired boy stated. This earned him a prompt slap from his cousin. He fake-screamed in fake agony.

"Albus, don't exaggerate, my love." Rose smirked. Albus blushed at that sentence.

"You've been falling for me hard, haven't you?" the redhead pondered, smiling.

"Honestly? Yes, my darling Rosie." Albus stuttered. Rose beamed very radiantly.

"But now I'm thinking of a plan." Albus said, smiling maniacally - Rose was scared.

"And what is - knowing you - rather _diabolical_ plan, may I ask?" she asked.

"Torturing Annie and Dom, that's what. They need to be taught a fierce lesson. I'm not kidding. They guessed about my feelings. Well, Teddy blabbed to Dom-"

"That git!" Rose hissed. Albus laughed - wow, sweet Rose had a wild side.

"-and Annie started guessing about a deeper connection when you dropped off on my shoulder. She looked at me, then raised her eyebrows when she saw you sleeping." Al finished. Rose was suddenly struck by something though.

"How did Teddy know?" she wondered. Albus' face suddenly flushed.

"He's quite perceptive, as you know, and I guess the look in my eyes when I hugged you the other day gave it away. I_ swear _I'm going to_ kill _him at Christmas."

"So... are we_ together_?" Rose asked, her eyes positively shining with happiness.

"Sure. But let's take it slow - you know how fast news spreads in Hogwarts."

"Oh, Albus. I love you." Rose exclaimed, smothering him in kisses. "And you're right. Let's keep our relationship low-key. I'm guessing it might get tricky in gossip circles."

"Merlin forbid if it hits ears before we're ready. But love knows no bounds. Who the hell cares if we're cousins?" Albus asked, a rhetorical question clear in his voice.

"I sure the hell don't!" Rose grinned. Al laughed, leaning on Rose to steady himself. The train started to slow down. The happy pair collected their lugagge. Rose had to restrain Albus from hexing Annie when the cousins bumped into Annie and Scorpius in the carriages. At Al's actions, Scorpius looked utterly and downright befuddled.

"Albus, why do you want to hex Annie's brains out? I thought you two were close."

"Scorpius, I assure you we are, but right now Anita Hannah Longbottom is walking to her death sentence." Albus hissed - Annie put up her hands defensively. Rose also sent the blonde a glare. But tensions calmed in the carriage as the students prepared for another year. Albus and Rose were sure it would be somewhat crazy.

**AN: I don't care what people say, it's like Albus said, who cares if they're cousins? Love knows no bounds. I decided to put some Lily/Lysander hints in because they're my favourite NextGen ship next to Ralbus. As for the OCs in this story, I've tried to make Annie Longbottom a fair bit more like Hannah Abbott than like Neville. And some of you are probably wondering about James' OC girlfriend Cynthia. Cynthia has cannon parents, but I'll keep them 'hidden', per se, until Chapter 3, with a big hint at the end of Chapter 2. There **_**is**_** a super-subtle hint towards who her mother is if you squint **_**very**_** carefully. See if you can guess if you look hard. Review, please?**


	2. Aphrodite Plays With People's Minds

**Aphrodite Plays With People's Minds**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. Here's the second chapter, so Albus and the others will start the wacky road of Hogwartian life. **

After a mildly interesting Sorting, from 'Abercrombie, Paula!' to 'Whitby, Alison!', Albus and Rose tucked into the feast. Rose lost her appetite slightly when her absolute pig of a brother scoffed a chicken drumstick whole.

"Hugo! Will you _please_ control yourself with food." she said a voice very akin to her mother. Hugo looked at her, blinked, and went back to his food. Rose sighed. Albus gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. _Everything'll be fine Rosie. No need to worry about Hugo's animal behaviour_ the squeeze seemed to say. Rose smiled back at Albus, her eyes glinting. Al's eyes drifted over to the Ravenclaw table, an - amused frown, if it existed - on his face. Rose's eyes followed suit. She sighed.

"Honestly... can't they get a room? Lily's such a lovesick puppy." she muttered.

"Hey." Cynthia's voice cut in. Albus moved up to make room for her and James.

"Lily's not even a Ravenclaw." Rose muttered. Cynthia looked over and groaned.

"I'll go over and tell Lil to get back here. I'm a 'Claw, so I think she'll listen to me."

"Doubt it Cynth, but go ahead." James said. After much commotion, Cynthia had a small, pouting redhead by the arm, squirming to get out of the sixth-year's grip.

"Oh come on. I wanted to have a chat with him." Lily hissed, guessing what she'd have her ear chewed off about. A distinct 'mm-hm' could be heard from Albus.

"Oh stop it! It's not like students are banned from sitting at different house tables during feasts. Cynthia! I'm speaking to you!" Lily emphasised, prodding her finger just below the Ravenclaw's ribs - the highest point of Cynthia she could reach. Rose let out a quiet snicker - Lily _was_ quite tiny. James gave his sister the evil eye for prodding his girlfriend as the junior Gryff and senior 'Claw sat down at the table.

"Oh what?! Cynthia's such a hypocrite, James. I was speaking about the supposed 'no-switching-tables-during-feasts' rule, which your sneaky girlfriend has obviously defied." Lily declared, an almost Marauder-esque glint in one of her brown eyes.

"Actually, speaking of drifting to different tables, I need to speak to a certain 'Claw." Albus said, walking over to someone with distinct wavy brown hair with red streaks.

"Wha- oh. OH! Katherine Macmillan, hmm? Al has a very good taste in girls, I see." James' statement earned multiple slaps. Rose let a somewhat hoarse chuckle.

"_Puuurrr-leeeaasse_ James. Albus and Katherine?! No way. She did him a favour, and he's just thanking her for it." she said. Albus came back to the table with a smile.

"Finished whispering sweet nothings into Macmillan's ear, Al?" James joked. Albus' face turned to stone - he glanced at Rose, his look saying 'what on Merlin's earth?'.

"James seems to think you have affections for Katherine, and that's _supposedly_ why you went over to talk to her. I told him it was to thank her, but he's not buying it." Rose said. Albus' temper ignited - James really shouldn't make snap judgements.

"James Sirius Potter, I do _not _have feelings for Katherine. Honestly, don't ramble about things you only have a smidgen of knowledge about." he hissed, his green eyes alight. James didn't react, but Lily paled, her freckles clearly visible now.

"Oh… oh Lils, don't worry. James is being a prat. I won't get cross like that again."

"S-so you're not mad ab-about me getting close with Lysander?" Lily half-sniffed - Albus had really scared her when he went off the handle then. Albus' heart softened.

"No, of course I'm not Lils. I was joking on the train. You two are incredible friends, and you seem like you would be a match made in heaven. As for James thinking I'm in love with Katherine… that's even more ridiculous than Rose thinking I'm in love with Annie." At the end of the middle Potter's speech, Lily snorted, her eyes shining.

"You and Annie? That seems a tad silly." she laughed - Rose had some crazy ideas.

"I know. I love Annie dearly but just as a friend. And Katherine's a causal friend too." Albus said. Lily wasn't a prying person at all, but she'd just thought of a question.

"On a related topic Al, in all honesty, is anyone catching your eye at the minute?"

Al thought carefully what to tell his sister - he'd sworn to Rose to keep their secret.

"Maybe Lils, but it takes time to figure out things like that." he smiled. He swore a passionate twinkle appeared in Rose's eyes. The next day in Charms, Professor Brocklehurst nearly had to give Al a good talking-to and (the green-eyed boy gulped at the thought of this) a severe detention. He was met with something worse - Rose.

"_Albus Severus Potter how dare you be late on the first day of lessons!_" she hissed. Albus gave his cousin his best puppy-dog eyes look. Rose, however, didn't budge.

"Awww come _on_ Rosie-Posie. You know you can't stay mad at me." Al sighed. After Charms, while they were walking to lunch, Rose was still a bit uptight.

"What's got your wand in a knot now?" Albus asked.

"You jolly well know what, Albus Potter. _Don't call me Rosie-Posie._" she muttered.

"How about Sweet Flower?"

Rose blushed at the thought of being called 'sweet flower'.

"No." she stated.

"Aha. You blushed."

"Oh stop it you. You have say-so to call me Rosey-Rose as usual, nothing more."

Albus grinned an evil grin. The concept of 'fromance' was fun. Along as he kept it causal, they were fine. No-one knew of their relationship except for Dominique and Annie. Speaking of Annie...

"Do you have an Invisibility Cloak?" Albus asked - the blonde in question had just randomly appeared. Annie shook her head, glancing down at Al's and Rose's midriffs. The cousins were holding hands. They jumped apart, blushing heavily.

"I cite Rule #46 of the Hogwarts Constitution: 'Cousins will not do romantic gestures within school walls'." Annie said in mock seriousness. Albus snorted. Rose spoke.

"There's no Hogwarts Constitution, _Anita_." she said. The three of them walked down to lunch. As they entered the Great Hall, a yelp was heard. It later transpired that Hugo had gone haywire with his fork and sent some sausage on direct collision with Katherine Macmillan's nose.

That night, Albus and Rose were lounging on a wide sofa in the Gryffindor common room very late - they were all alone. Rose's eyelids were starting to droop while she was curled up all cosy with her head on Al's chest, and the green-eyed boy had draped a quilt over both of them.

"I couldn't be happier." Albus sighed merrily. Rose nodded and murmured positively.

"I love you Albie, and I always will." she grinned, her bright red curls tickling his chin.

"Ditto, Rosie. Tell me the truth. I know we were having a laugh when we said we didn't give a hoot about being related once you said you loved me. But seriously, does it bother you that we're cousins _and_ boyfriend and girlfriend?" Al asked. Rose gave the question very deep thought - Al wanted a completely honest answer.

"No, Albie, it doesn't. If anything, it makes our relationship special." Rose answered. Al was about to say something, but was cut off by pale lips touching his own. He moaned happily When Rose finally pulled back, she was beaming very happily.

"They say gods sometimes guide us in life, and I think Aphrodite plays with people's minds when it comes to love." she grinned. Albus was still mind-blown from the kiss.

"I thought you didn't believe in all that celestial god stuff." he laughed.

"When it comes to dating the one I love with all my heart, I believe." she replied. They both yawned. _It__'__ll seem obvious that we__'__re dating if we sleep down here all snuggled up_ they both thought, their eyes popping at the simultaneous brain wave.

"If there wasn't a charm on the girls' staircase, I'd carry you up there, bridal-style." When Albus said this, Rose's face twitched. _Oh my Merlin. He'd carry me bridal-style_ she thought. Albus gave her a reassuring smile - he wanted to make her happy.

"C'mon Rosie-Posie." he grinned, and to his surprise, she beamed. He led her to the girls' staircase, she walked up a few steps, and bent down for the perfect moment.

"Goodnight Albie." she grinned.

"Good night, my flower." Albus replied, leaning in for a kiss. Rose responded with passion. That night Al dreamt of, in his eyes, the ideal redhead - his cute cousin Rosie. The next morning, the comfortable couple walked together to breakfast.

"Honestly Albus_, wake up_." Rose joked. She got an elbow in the ribs for this.

"Well I didn't expect my loopiest cousin to be standing over me beaming the moment I _opened my eyes_, was I?" Albus pouted, a loving twinkle in his eyes that only Rose saw. They both sat down at the lion table. Al yawned, forgetting to cover his mouth.

"Ew. I don't want to see your tonsils, Albus Severus Potter." Rose half-teased. Her black-haired cousin sent her a secret look which clearly said _you don__'__t mind getting close to them though_. Rose was momentarily stupefied. Lily coughed promptly.

"Hello Rose, and dear brother of mine." she chuckled. Albus looked over the food.

"Hello Lily. Someone-" Rose started, fake-glaring at the bespectacled boy "-had a bit of a late night, from what I hear." she finished. Albus smiled at Lily, shaking his head.

"Well _someone_-" Al paused to fix his green eyes on Rose's brown "was beaming at me the moment I woke up. Congrats, Rosie-Posie. You win the title of 'The World's Craziest Cousin'! Happy?" he finished, fake-glaring. Lily then recalled something.

"Speaking of crazy cousins, I believe Dominique is looking for the both of you." Al and Rose blanched at this. Lily sensed their worry, and was clearly concerned.

"Is something wrong? There's nothing too horrible, she just wants to talk about your timetable to see if it's too crowded." she said, giving them pats on the back. The couple relaxed - they had jumped the gun with their thoughts. And besides, Dom would never betray their confidence. Part-Veela she may be, she was quite compassionate. Al tucked into his toast, and Rose started talking to Lily.

"The thing is Lil… it's just… Dom's been trying to over-joke with Al lately, and a bit with me too. Since she's Head Girl now, we don't know when she's being her old jokey self or being serious." the Weasley redhead explained. Al took his last bite.

"Mm. That was filling. Unless you want Neville to give you detention, I suggest you follow me, Rosey-Rose." he joked, slapping Rose on the back lightly.

"Forget Neville. The Longbottom who can cause us the most grief is Annie." Rose said. Al raised his eyebrows in a obvious _touché, she CAN cause us grief_ look. Rose smiled, and they walked off to Herbology, leaving a perplexed Lily in their wake. Ignoring Annie's sly looks during the lesson - luckily, no-one but Al and Rose noticed the glances - the cousins tried to do the lesson's task of collecting Bubotuber pus. They cornered Annie after the lesson. The 'Puff was interested in their queries.

"Listen Annie. Yes, you know me and Al are dating, but stay true to your house, and please don't go spreading it around. Promise?" Rose asked, a desperate look in her eyes. Annie sighed and nodded the affirmative. Al and Rose grinned at her, walking away hand-in-hand. That is of course, until Annie muttered 'rule #46'. That broke them apart. Annie laughed her bubbly laugh.

"That was a _joke_, you two. But keep it hidden if you want it secret." she chuckled.

"Oh don't worry Ann, we know about that. We had a big talk about that when we got together." Albus and Rose said in unison. Annie was shocked by the joint reply. When the couple walked into Transfiguration, they found McGonagall was late. Albus took this opportunity to transform a loose scrap of parchment on his table (left by another student, of course) into a bright-red rose. Rose's eyes softened as she took it and put in her pocket. No-one noticed this. After Transfiguration, Dom had the timetable discussion with them just before lunch. Albus' and Rose's faces showed fear that they'd be split in a lot of classes. Dominique showed forgiveness for them.

"Oh don't worry, you won't be split. Merlin, you're getting _really _close, aren't you?" The Head Girl got fierce nods as replies. She laughed with every bodily nerve.

"Sprint along, you lovebirds." she chuckled, handing them their timetables, with Rose and Albus walking to the Great Hall reasonably flushed as a result of her quip.

"So did Dom grill you?" Lily asked when Al and Rose sat down at the Gryff table.

"To a fair point, yes." Al replied, glancing wearily at the Hufflepuff table. Dom waved, and Annie smiled, but Al thought they meant their gestures in risqué ways - why were all the sneaks Hufflepuffs? The badger house usually had a very caring reputation.

_Teddy had been a 'Puff too, and he was the first one to click about my feelings for Rose, so ditto I guess_ Albus thought, a crease in his brow turning into a frown. Lily suddenly noticed the flower in Rose's pocket - the youngest Potter had good eyes.

"Say Rosie, who gave you that?" she said, pointing at her cousin's pocket.

"I-I.. earlier I needed some fresh air, so I was excused and walked onto the grounds, and found this. I inhaled the scent and it made my head clearer, so I've decided it'll be a good luck charm." Rose made up on the fly. Albus' eyes were avoiding her.

"Well that's good for you Rose." Lily replied. Abruptly, whoops of delight came from Fred and Roxanne. Lily groaned - this didn't look good. Rose mumbled a question.

"The answer to that Rose, is because I manage to keep James in check." Cynthia replied, suddenly appearing. James grumbled beside her. Albus chortled.

"Wow Cynthia. You can control James against his pranking yearnings? Anyone would think you're a Prefect. But then again, James never listens to Prefects..." the green-eyed boy trailed. James huffed once more, and Lily and Rose laughed.

"My parents _were_ Prefects in their day." Cynthia smirked. "Both of them."

"Both of them?!" Lily gasped in fake shock. "Wow. You must have a deep respect for rules then. How did you end up dating Jamesie-boy over here?" she queried.

"Lily Luna _Potter_! _Don__'__t_ go prying into people's private lives!" Rose stated crossly.

"Sheesh!" Lily replied, sticking her tongue out. Rose looked at Albus, who thanked her with his eyes for saying about private lives staying private. The curly-haired redhead slipped him a negligible wink. Lily being Lily, began to pout.

"Rose Portia Weasley, I am _not_ a prying person!" she growled.

"_Portia_?" Cynthia queried, nearly unable to suppress her chuckles. Rose glared.

"It's Aunt Hermione's fault." Albus supplied. "Rosie, stop glaring. You know you have many endearing qualities, and that's why we love you." he quipped. Rose smiled.

"Why _thank you_ Albus." she grinned cheekily, the smallest of blushes appearing on her face. Al noticed though. He didn't know why he thought of that joke about Rose's good qualities - maybe the 'causal fromance' bit of his brain had just kicked in. Dinner passed without any more incidents, and Lily had calmed down from her little 'tantrum' - although, it must be noted that James and Albus had alerted Cynthia that the fiery little second-year could get worse. Rose testified for this. Lily resisted the urge to give them one of her patented 'Lily glares', but it was a close shave.

**AN: A good follow-up chapter, I think. Some people might be puzzled by over Hufflepuff!Dominique... but in my eyes, she belongs there, because she's nice and friendly, unlike that**_** vile **_**sister of hers (I hate Victoire, had to be said). Not **_**every**_** Weasley has to go into Gryffindor in the next generation. Rose's middle name may seem **_**insane**_**, but it's to do with how JKR came up with Hermione's name. A recurring OC's mystery is closing. C'mon, she's a Ravenclaw, houses are usually in kept in families, and her parents were Prefects. Cynthia's surname must be pretty easy to figure out by now.**


	3. What In The Name Of All Things Magical?

**What In The Name Of All Things Magical?**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. Just to let you know, Cynthia's parents are Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil, because I like that pairing. And 'Portia' comes from the character in Shakespeare's **_**Merchant of Venice**_**, just like 'Hermione' comes from **_**A Winter's Tale**_**. A quick heads-up: there are three snippets in this chapter which are direct quotes or heavily based on quotes from the 2000 hit romantic comedy Coyote Ugly. Bonus recognition for anyone who gets them!**

Four weeks passed, and by the start of October, Albus and Rose were struggling to not go past 'cousins by day, lovers by night' - their affection was just too strong. The two of them woke very late to breakfast one day with crumpled robes. Hugo laughed.

"Hmm... I sense rather mischievous business." he chuckled. Lily slapped him hard.

"Hugo! I'm sure Al and Rose were clumsy in putting on their robes!" she chided.

"Y-yes, we were." Rose stuttered. Albus nodded along, looking incredibly tense.

"Anyway, we're going to walk down to the Lake and have a good relax. It's Saturday after all. Want to come with?" Lily asked. Albus and Rose met each other's gaze.

"Sure, why not?" they replied in unison. Lily and Hugo suddenly jumped.

"What?" Rose laughed, squeezing Al's hand under the table. Al smiled secretly.

"I didn't expect you two to talk in unison." Lily faltered. Al laughed, his eyes twinkling.

"Hurry along, you ickle youngsters. Don't worry, Rose and I will be there once we've rearranged our robes." he smirked. Lily and Hugo set off to the Lake. The happy couple walked off to a nearby corridor. Albus loosened his tie, smiling devillishly.

"Albus, what are you up to?" Rose asked, a fire dancing in her eyes.

"My delicate flower, I can't ruin this surprise..." the black-haired cousin smiled. After a walk along the corridor Albus opened a broom closet door, gesturing Rose to go in.

"Albie...?" she asked. Albus shushed her and led her in. Rose was very intrigued.

"Our robes are crumpled, right? Why can't we have a passionate moment?"

At Al's question, Rose's senses reared - Lily and Hugo wouldn't care about lateness. Rose let out a muffled shriek as her cousin's lips met hers. _Oh Albie..._ she thought. When the heat of the kiss died down, the duo retreated from the broom closet, straightened their robes completely and headed down to the kitchens.

"Aha." a comical voice laughed. Al and Rose glanced at each other as if to say _prepare yourself_. Out of the shadows emerged Megan Finch-Fletchley.

"Megan, as much as Rose and I both love your sense of humour, we off to relax by the Lake." Al said. Megan beamed. Rose saw a twinkle in the Hufflepuff's eyes.

"What are you up to?" the redhead asked. "It seems like you're about to hurt us."

"Yeah, it would appear you'd like to batter us so we turn black and blue." Al laughed.

Megan pouted - she was in Al and Rose's year, and the previous year she chose to put blue streaks in her black hair because she wanted a crazy change, and kept it. Albus still found the change amusing, and mocked her gently every chance he got.

"I'm up to nothing, thank you very much. Just wanted to say hello. And to offer an act of generousity from my heart - if anyone gives you trouble, tell me." Megan said.

"Well... thank you." Rose replied. Megan walked away, smiling. Al was confused.

"You don't think she's pulling the other one, do you?" he pondered.

"Oh Al. Always so paranoid. Now come on." Rose demanded. Al got a sly look.

"Not before you kiss me." he pouted. Rose sighed comically and did so. They headed for the Lake and flopped down on the grass next to Lily and Hugo.

"What kept you?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. She had a natural combination of bravado and wit that she had been born with, according to her parents.

"We were held up. Megan gave us a weirdly helpful cryptic message." Rose replied.

"I see." Lily retorted, beaming sneakily at Hugo. Hugo shook his head forcefully.

"Hugh used to - and I'm taking it, still has - a rather soft spot for Megan." Lily said.

"Liar. Big liar!" Hugo spat out, turning pink. Lily hummed a guitar riff. Rose snickered.

"Indeed, Lily. And Al can be the same. Ow!" she said. The last word was louder because Albus had just elbowed her, giving her a _don't-joke-around_ look.

"Oh calm down, Al. You know I have a very honest nature." Rose laughed.

"One of the reasons we all adore you." Al said out loud. "And one of the reasons you send my heart racing." he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down Rose's spine. She shifted, and leaned her weight onto his shoulder. Albus sighed.

"Oh stop it, Lils. I'm_ over _Megan. Besides, it was just a little twinge of affection." Hugo proclaimed - Al was brought back to reality by Lily and Hugo bickering.

"Twinge? You were blushing and stammering whenever she came near you." Lily's sentence sent Rose out of her dream.

"What in the name of all things magical?" she exclaimed. Lily nodded.

"Ha_ ha_, Lily. What about you and Lysander? You're waiting for the day when precious 'Sander calls you his flower moon." Hugo retorted. Lily's face went red.

"Oh I get it! Flower moon - Lily Luna!" Al chuckled. His sister gave him a patented 'Lily glare'. Rose laughed lightly yet neutrally - she found both sides of things funny.

"Grow up!" Lily scowled. "Firstly, Hugo, stop lusting after someone older than you, and Albus... well, I don't actually know what Al's love life is like at the moment. Not that I want to know. And as for Rose... ditto on the zero knowledge." she finished.

Albus and Rose snickered, and held hands for a second, but the others didn't see it.

"And I'm sure I don't want to know about Rose's private life." Hugo murmured.

"Let me assure you Hugo, your immature brain wouldn't understand the tranquility of a calm relationship. But you should know that I have _indeed_ started seeing someone." Rose beamed. Lily nearly squealed.

"What's his name? Which house is he in?" she shrieked. Rose grinned.

"I really can't say too much. This guy tends to act like a recluse. Well I know him well enough to know he'd like to be one at times." she winked. Albus caught on.

"So Rosey-Rose, does this mystery guy treat you well, and is he a good guy?"

"He's the best, and he treats me like I'm an angel." Rose laughed, catching Al's eye.

"Good for you." Albus beamed. A voice was heard out of thin air.

"Levicorpus!" Lily exclaimed, her defense mechanism kicking in. This ended with James hanging in the air and the Cloak rustled on the floor.

"Lily, let me down you little squirt!" he shrieked. But Lily levitated him higher.

"_Want to repeat that?_" she hissed. James' brown eyes drained of colour.

"Lils, put him down." Albus reasoned. Lily smiled evilly. The others sighed.

"Lily, spare him from your viciousness." a voice said clearly. Suddenly there was the sound of James falling and screaming at having been released. Lily turned her head.

"I am not vicious, Mr. Lysander Harry Scamander." she stated, her brown eyes fixing onto Lysander's blue ones. Hugo wolf-whistled, and Lily gave him a signature glare.

"Need I list the many incidents you cause, Miss Lily Luna Potter?" Lysander laughed.

"Do you want to settle things before they turn nasty?" she chuckled.

"Lovebirds." James coughed. Albus and Rose walked away before things really _did_ get nasty - Lysander was right. Lily had a tense streak, and James was a target.

"Lets hope Rabbit calms Horse down." Albus said.

"Oh, he will." Rose chuckled - behind Lily and Lysander's backs they'd come up with nicknames for them. And Rose being Rose, used sly obscure jokes to create them - Lily was Horse, and Lysander was Rabbit. Later on they were in Al's dorm. It was empty, and the couple were relaxing on Al's bed, looking into the other's eyes.

"Were you being truthful, Rose-flower?" Al crooned into Rose's ear. She giggled.

"About what, Albie?" she chuckled.

"About me being the best guy you've dated?" Albus retorted, a glint in his eye.

"Of course. Although you know I'm not really an angel." Rose said.

"Rose Portia Weasley, you _are_ an angel. Can't you see that with your explosive red hair, entrancing eyes, cute little button nose, amazing figure and selfless caring personality?" Al proclaimed. Rose blushed to match said explosive red hair. Albus rubbed her nose. Shivers went through Rose's body. Albus knew how to press her buttons (no pun intended).

"Al, I'm not the perfect goddess you see me as." Rose said timidly. Albus snorted.

"Why won't you give up on this?" Rose pouted.

"Because you know you're wonderful, and you're going to see the truth or..."

"Or what?" Rose asked.

"I'll never kiss you again." Albus proclaimed proudly, half-mocking her.

"That sounds like a threat, Mr. Potter." Rose smirked.

"Well, let's just say it's going to be quite a long, cold winter." Albus laughed - they were in the Highlands, after all. Rose rolled her eyes. Honestly, he was_ hopeless_.

"That's supposed to convince me?" she asked.

"It's working isn't it? Your knees are getting weak." Al smirked, pecking her on the cheek. Rose's knees were indeed wobbly. She cursed her fragile body.

"I want a kiss on the mouth, Al." she demanded, the playful fire in her eyes.

"Let's get off the bed, and I'll give it to you." Al snickered - he had a plan. They both got up. Al then swept Rose into his strong arms bridal-style and kissed her deeply. Rose let out a series of squeaks and happy moans, her head bouncing off her neck when Al let her go. He was beaming. Rose really was the love of his life.

"You kept your promise of bridal-style then." the redhead grinned. Al nodded.

"I love you Rosie-Posie, my dear sweet flower." he whispered.

"D'you think Lily will click that I was referring to you?" Rose queried. Albus laughed.

"Merlin... I can imagine the looks on James' and Lily's faces when we reveal we're together." he chuckled. Rose shook with mirth - James would go bug-eyed.

"So when are we telling people?" she asked. Al thought about it deeply.

"Well I quite enjoy our late-night comfy sofa time, so let's keep it secret." he said.

"As much as I love it too Albie, I can't hide my affection much longer. Can we kiss on the cheek every once in a while?" Rose pondered.

"Keep it kind of light, OK?" Albus said. Rose pinched him. Al fake-glared.

"Do you want people to be spreading rumours and twisting it?" he asked. Rose shook her head. She didn't want any trouble. If such happened, Megan would come through for them anyway. That's if Hugo didn't write her a love sonnet first. She laughed heartedly. She couldn't believe what Lily had said. Hugo was crushing on Megan? It seemed a bit... out there. Al suddenly beamed with happiness.

"I have a plan." he whispered. Rose's ears picked up. He told her the plan, and she was bouncing by the end.

"Sure. I'll just wake up early to go down to the Common Room. People will think I'm still the early riser I always am." Rose said. They walked down to the Common Room to work on homework - surprisingly, Al was quite studious. Other Weasley cousins said 'too much time with Rose', but it was far from the truth. After a few hours, Al yawned. Rose smiled.

"Goodnight, Al." she said. Albus gave her a funny look - several Gryffs were around, so they couldn't do their intimate winks and such.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to bed, Rose? You must be pretty tired from the work." Al said, giving her another funny look. Rose responded with a smile.

Rose rested on the sofa until the last Gryff went up to bed.

"G'night Rose." James said, smiling at his younger cousin. She nodded curtly. When it had dead silent for three minutes, she crept up the fourth-year boys' dorm.

"Hey. It's me." she whispered into Albus' ear. A blissful smile appeared on his face as he opened his eyes a crack, and she got into his bed. Rose squeaked playfully as he pulled her close, her head fitting perfectly against his shoulder. Her neck was against his heart, and Rose could hear it speeding up as she snuggled into him more. She kissed her cousin on the jaw, and he pouted. She sighed and kissed him fully on the lips.

"Goodnight Albie." she murmured sleepily.

"Goodnight my precious Rose-flower." he murmured back, laughter in his voice. After a comfortable night of cuddling Albus, Rose woke up at six-thirty. Albus noticed, and moaned at the loss of warmth from her body. Rose could've sworn there was a 'don't leave me' in there somewhere. _Such a drama queen _she laughed mentally.

"Do you want our relationship to be uncovered?" she smirked. Al shook his head.

"Just remember I'll be kissing you on the cheek later." she said, doing so just then.

Rose walked down to the Common Room, and as usual was the first one up. Hermione often questioned whether she had any Ron in her - Rose was the exact opposite of her dad when it came to sleeping. After a half-hour, Albus came down.

"What kept you? I thought you loved having me close to you?" Rose teased.

"I do, my lovely adorable Rosie." he laughed. He had a look in his eyes.

"What do you want?" Rose asked. Al smiled.

"Well, it's, uh, 7 in the morning, I want what every man wants." he replied.

"Breakfast." he continued, after a poignant pause from Rose. Just then some other Gryffindors came down, and the cousins walked down to breakfast, fighting the urge to hold hands. Lily's yell of 'good morning' greeted them. Rose's ears throbbed. Al kissed her on the cheek and murmured 'don't worry, Rose-flower' in her ear.

"Need I say that the normally sweet Lily-flower is being disastrous today." Rose laughed. Lily scowled - not a pretty sight. Hugo suddenly appeared, and tucked into his breakfast, sighing contentedly.

"Aah... this is the best." he muttered.

"Ease up, Tina Turner." Rose laughed.

Al snorted and gave Rose a quick, loving gaze. She blushed ever-so-slightly. Lily suddenly started humming some Duran Duran tunes. Al and Rose didn't ask.

"Is there something we should know?" James pondered, who had stayed unusually silent. Cynthia Goldstein suddenly passed him and stuck her nose up, sending a cold glare at the Hufflepuff table. James fidgeted.

"Trouble with you and Cynthia?" Albus asked.

"It's... kind of hard to explain. I like to nickname the situation Code Yellow." James muttered. Lily started bopping her head. Albus recognised she was following the beat of 'A View to Kill'. Rose shook her head in a 'oh Merlin no' motion.

"Lily Luna Potter, stop being a human jukebox." Albus demanded. There was a sudden bang which signified a tremendous explosion.

"Hurrah!" a voice screamed gleefully.

"Lorcan Scamander, detention!" Dominique exclaimed. At the Ravenclaw table, Lorcan hung his head. Lysander gave him an 'obviously-you-were-going-to-get-in-trouble' look. Later on Cynthia was trying to remember the Gryffindor password.

"Grifo arañar." she clicked. The portrait swung open. Cynthia scanned the room.

"_James Sirius Potter! You and I are going to have a long talk!_" she exclaimed. James slunk out of the Common Room. He muttered 'code yellow' to Albus as he left.

"You know what this is about, I take it?" Cynthia asked, coldness in her eyes.

"Oh, Cynth... not this again. It's nothing. You must be making stuff up." James said.

"It is_ not _nothing! I won't just stand there as Annie Longbottom gets overly friendly! She's obviously into you!" Cynthia trilled. James' spine shivered in extreme fear. "James, you know full well that Annie's in love with you." she continued in a hiss. James thought in depth about what to say next - he wanted to clear his name here.

"Cynth... I'll admit, I used to have a little crush on Annie, but it was a ridiculous puppy-love crush when I was, what, eight? I love_ you _now. As for the occasional hugs, that's the way Annie's and mine friendship works! We've always been close." he said, his voice growing as his confidence kicked in. Cynthia had another question.

"Did you ever tell her about the puppy-love crush?" she wondered. James shook his head. Cynthia's gaze was ice-cold. Then she smirked, and laughed happily.

"So, are we good?" James asked nervously. Cynthia beamed and nodded.

"Yes, we're good." she chirped. James rolled his eyes playfully and kissed her.

"Hey!" Albus exclaimed - James and Cynthia had just walked into the Gryff Common Room like they owned the place. Cynthia fiddled with her dark-blonde hair.

"Oh shush, Albie." she teased. Rose sniffed angrily, her nostrils tensing.

"_I'm _the only one who has permission to call him that." she pouted. Cynthia laughed.

"So what was Code Yellow?" Rose asked. James hummed 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile'. Cynthia, Rose and Albus burst out into frenzied hysterics.

"Annie, then?" Albus pondered, wiping a tear from his eye. Cynthia nodded.

"I thought that Annie was falling in love with James. James told me I was being cynical." she said. Albus' and Rose's eyes suddenly shone. James groaned.

"Did he tell you about his infatuation with Annie?" Albus chuckled.

"He did indeed." Cynthia grinned. James glared at Albus. Albus looked naive.

"Oh don't look so naive Al. You weren't so happy-go-lucky when I thought_ you _loved Annie." Rose said, fire dancing in her eyes. Al didn't know whether to smile or frown.

A muffled password was suddenly heard, and the common room door burst open.

"Who, I repeat,_ who_, did_ this _is to me?" Annie Longbottom asked, her face stony.

**AN: The cliffhanger was rather impromptu, but I wanted a twist. One of the main couples in this story is James/Cynthia, like I said in the summary, but I also have a soft spot for the idea of James Sirius dating Neville's OC daughter, so the quick Annie/James/Cynthia situation sprung forth. I wrote about Lily humming Duran Duran and Rose saying 'ease up Tina Turner' when I was on an 80s-music boost, which happens a lot, trust me. I'm pretty much a human jukebox. Lily was humming Paranoid by Black Sabbath at the Lake - an apt song for that part. **


	4. And THAT Is How It's Done!

**And That Is How It's Done!**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. This chapter has a high amount of suspense and some fluffy Al/Rose sequences. I can't help myself when it comes to those two. My favourite NextGen ship, what more can I say...? Let the chapter begin!**

Annie's hair was blue, streaked with red, fading into red as it reached her pigtails. The whole common room burst into hysterical laughter. Albus could barely stop.

"_Who?_" she demanded in a silky voice. A trembling Hugo stood up. Annie froze.

"I assure you, Hugo Jacob Weasley, that you are in trouble, mister." she spoke in a dangerously quiet voice. The whole room had stopped laughing.

"Probably just a punishment of endless tickling, knowing Annie." James muttered.

"You should know that Hugo will be facing his _doooom_." Annie emphasised, trailing on the last word, and giving James a stare. Hugo gulped. He was then dragged off by Miss Longbottom to unknown torture. The mood in the Common Room was ominously quiet. Albus gave Rose a look. Rose shrugged. It later transpired that Annie had sprayed Hugo with large amounts of Stinksap. Three days after the incident, Rose bounced into the Great Hall feeling elated, and couldn't stop smiling.

"Goooood morning!" she beamed. James, Lily and Hugo looked plain blank.

"I take it you had an excellent sleep Rosie?" Albus asked, a shimmer in his eyes.

"That's an understatement! I feel so peppy I could bounce off walls!" Rose stated.

Albus gave her a wink. She had slept in his bed again, snuggling very smoothly against him the previous night, and honestly, Al felt upbeat from Rose's warmth too.

"Thinking of your boyfriend?" Lily asked - she was impatient with Rose not telling her who the mystery guy was. Rose nodded vigorously. Hugo suddenly walked in.

"He's a Gryffindor, I'll tell you that much." she said - she knew Lily was waiting for it.

"Who's a Gryffindor?" Hugo asked. Lily slapped her dense cousin.

"Hugo Weasley, you are the most ignorant person I have ever met." she hissed.

"Then tell me who's a Gryffindor then." Hugo grumbled. Rose beamed.

"My boyfriend..." she trailed, thinking of hugging her black-haired green-eyed cousin.

"What about him?" a voice asked - Dominique. Al promptly face-palmed. Some colour drained out of Rose's face. James, not knowing the weird situation, spoke.

"Rose's just telling us how this mystery man is a Gryffindor." he said. Dom laughed.

"Oh, I know _that_." she chirped, a quick glance at Rose. Rose's eyes were pleading. _Please don't betray us _she was communicating. Al was also looking edgy.

"How on earth do you know?" Lily asked, half-glaring at Rose. Dom laughed again.

"As Head Girl you get little scraps of juicy information." she chuckled.

"You could have used your Head Girl powers to stop Annie spraying me with very vicious Stinksap, thank you very much Dominique Weasley." Hugo huffed, irritated.

"Meh. I figured to let a fellow Hufflepuff have some fun." Dom said. Her super good eye-sight (even better than Lily's) spotted Al's fingers tickling Rose's palm under the table. She looked at the couple and raised an eyebrow. They broke apart. _You're worse than Annie, I swear _Al mouthed. Dominique smiled innocently.

"Why do I smell strong aftershave on you, Rose?" Lily pondered, pinching her nose.

"Al's sitting next to me, of course. Mr. _Scent_-imental over here." Rose laughed. Albus laughed and slung his arm around his cousin. Rose relaxed.

"We all know I'm quite sensitive." Albus laughed. Dom gave him a look. _We'll talk to you later_ he mouthed. She briskly nodded. Later on in a secluded corridor the Head Girl approached her cousins, not quite knowing what they were going to say.

"The reason that Lily smelt my aftershave on Rose was because..." Al started.

"I've been sleeping in Al's bed." Rose finished confidently, slipping Al a loving glance. Dominique's jaw dropped. Rose rested on Al and hugged him. He beamed.

"You-you've been..." Dom stuttered, utterly perplexed. Rose nodded vigorously.

"Every other night Al goes up a bit early to the boy's dorms, I stay down until everyone's gone, trail up to the fourth-years boys' dorm, and surprise him with a cuddle. He makes room for me, and then pulls me close." she grinned, eyes alight.

"How did you get into my bed last night Rosie? Oh, that's right. You tickled my ribs and kissed my temple if I remember correctly." Albus laughed. Rose blushed.

"How do you keep hidden? Surely people might notice a pattern in Al's going-up-early." Dominique proclaimed. Rose's eyes shone with love for Albus.

"I've been falling into the habit of going up earlier. I find it easier to sleep that way anyway. Rose's gentle touch goes through my body quite often, and it's a signal to let her into my bed." Al said, his eyes reflecting the passion Rose's had.

"But letting your cousin cuddle you as you sleep..." Dom started, losing her thought.

"Al once asked me whether the 'being related' thing was an issue. I said it wasn't and if anything, it makes our relationship special." Rose retorted. Dom smiled at them.

"That's really sweet, you guys." she said - her Veela heritage could sense their love.

"I take it by Rose's very upbeat good morning that you got comfortable last night." she proclaimed. Albus nodded, grinning mischievously. Rose kissed him.

"Yep. It's wonderful having Rose snuggling into me. Rosie-Posie, my dear Rose-flower, and now, red rose!" Albus laughed - at the 'dear Rose-flower', Rose had turned a vivid shade of red to match her hair - her ears had too, one of the traits she had picked up from Ron, only Rose's ear reflex came in when embarrassed.

"Don't mention the extra-special nickname you gave me! That's _private_!" she gasped. Dominique promptly burst out laughing. Rose groaned - this was not going well.

"Buzz off." she muttered, flicking the Head Girl. Dom grumbled half-heartedly.

"Told anybody about you two yet?" she asked. Al's and Rose's faces slackened.

"_Are you crazy?_" Al muttered. Dom didn't laugh this time.

"You're telling people eventually, right?" she pondered. Al gave a light shrug.

"I don't know. We might soon. Rosie was getting very close to me when we were with Lily and Hugo by the Lake, and I'm surprised Lily didn't say anything." he said.

"What about Hugo?" Dom queried. Rose shrieked with uncontrollable laughter.

"Dom, Hugo is Hugo. Lily, meanwhile, is quite brainy and could click." she asserted.

"Well, well, well." Cynthia Goldstein approached the three with a glint of suspicion in her eyes. Dom got her wand out - as Head Girl she could use her power to defend her cousins. Cynthia eyed Dominique carefully - her genes could prove dangerous.

"What are you three up to?" the Ravenclaw pondered. Rose whistled innocently.

"That whistle is a sign I shouldn't trust you." Cynthia smiled. Albus cocked his head.

"There's no need to insult my favourite cousin like that, Cynthia." he said. Rose blushed incredibly faintly, but Dom noticed, and decided to pull a joke on Al.

"Albus_ Potter! _I'm hurt! I thought_ I _was your favourite cousin!" she fake-gasped.

"Dominique Grace Weasley, you_ know _Rose is my favourite." Al smiled, loosely putting his arm around Rose. Cynthia gave him a weird look. Rose laughed.

"Is there a weird Potter-Weasley joke going on that I don't know about?"

"I suppose, but James and Lily don't know about it, and Rose and Dom are the only Weasleys who are in on it. That is unless, if Dom's told anyone?" Albus finished by glancing at Dom, his look half-joking, half-possibly angsty. Dom shook her head.

"Albus, you know I would never do that to you." she said, her hand over her heart.

"Good. I was worried that the spirit of Pandora had chanelled itself into you." Al smirked. Cynthia laughed. Rose rolled her eyes. Dominique's eyes glinted.

"I may be part-Veela and reasonably clever, but I never deceive people." she said.

"Albus Severus Potter, don't come up with Greek mythology tricks." Rose chided.

"You did it at one time too Rose." Albus smiled. He was elbowed in the stomach.

"Ah! The love of family hurts!" he exclaimed. Rose gave him a penetrating stare.

"Well I'll leave you insane cousins to yourselves." Cynthia grinned, walking away. She heard a distinct 'Oi!' from said cousins as she left.

"Cynthia's going to find out soon. You know she is." Dom smirked. Al was silent.

"Well I think we're going to sit James, Lily, Hugo and Cynthia down and then tell them calmly. Luckily Al here is good at hexes so if James goes nuts we're fully prepared." Rose explained. Al then gave Rose a very passionate peck on the cheek.

"Albie...!" Rose giggled. Dominique rolled her eyes.

"I have the feeling you get rather flirty with your precious Teddy-bear as well." Al smirked. Dom blushed. Rose laughed.

"Oooh... I sense Teddinique in the air..." she trailed. Dom gave Rose a look.

"Well let's hope you two pluck up the courage to reveal Ralbus!" she smirked.

Rose looked like she wanted to stir a rather testy argument with Dom, but Al told her with his eyes not to do it. She backed down, baring her teeth jokingly.

"You guys give up? Or you are you thirsty for more?" Dom pondered. Albus snorted. Dom backed away sensibly - an angry Albus Potter was a tricky thing to behold.

"Fine. I'll leave you alone, but you better fess up before someone catches you. You guys owe me for covering for you when Cynthia turned up." she said, walking off.

"You know she's right." Rose sighed. Albus kissed her on the temple. Rose laughed.

"That's going to become a tradition, isn't it?" she chuckled. Al shrugged.

"It might." he snickered.

"_Eff-haristo_." Rose replied cheekily. Al laughed.

"You really have inherited your mother's brains."

"You've inherited your mother's talent for making people uptight." Rose responded. Al smirked, which Rose huffed at. She was being serious! Honestly, that boy... but she couldn't help love him. The couple shared a passionate embrace, but they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Aww, so cute." Annie Longbottom crooned. Albus' emerald eyes bored into Annie.

"Quiet, Longbottom." he growled jokingly. Annie laughed at Al's death glare.

"I wasn't joking, you two. You look quite cute together. I'm sure nothing will break you apart." she said. Rose let out a strained chuckle - a cute sound to Albus.

"Funny you should say that, Annie." the redhead laughed. Annie's eyebrow lifted.

"You two haven't had a fight, have you?" she asked. Rose shook her head.

"Nope. It's just that you_ might _have been the catalyst for breaking a couple apart."

"What?!" Annie exclaimed - her jaw dropped. "_What _could I have _possibly_ done?"

"Cynthia Goldstein thinks you have eyes for James." Albus said. Annie tensed.

"WHAT?! M-me and James? Is Cynthia is paranoid?!" she shrieked. Rose hummed the Paranoid riff.

"Don't pull a Lily, Rose." Albus said.

"Speaking of Lily, I wonder if Cynthia had the previous generation on her mind in a way, Annie. You said Lily and Lysander would reflect my Uncle Harry and Luna at Slughorn's party, and I'll bet you any Galleons that Cynthia thought you and James would reflect your dad and my Aunt Ginny at the Yule Ball." Rose stated. Annie let out a squawk.

"Wh-wh-the-whhhaattt?!" At said squawk, Albus was bent double. Rose looked at him with a mix of humour and sincerity - she managed to blur the line. Al relented - only Rose had the power to make him do so. After all, it _was_ Rose.

"Oh Rosie, how were you blessed with the ability to do that to me?" he queried.

"I don't know. Maybe it was our inseparable bond since birth?" Rose joked.

"Only you, Roseflower, only you." Al purred, stroking Rose's hair.

"Oh Merlin, you two are the_ total _epitome of cuteness, you know that?" Annie near-squealed. Rose fixed her eyes on Annie. Annie's lip trembled nervously.

"Get out of here, Annie. I've seen Rose's moods and you don't want to cross her."

"Oi, you! You're lucky I'm totally in love with you, or you would've paid for that!"

After the cousins' banter, Annie laughed and left, bidding them adieu.

"Just don't become a thorn in our sides, Annie L!" Albus called. Rose rolled her eyes.

"_You_ are useless." she joked.

"And_ you _are just plain_ beautiful_." he remarked with sincerity. Rose blushed red.

"You can't fight that, can you?" Al teased.

"You can't fight the urge to give in to me when I do my puppy-dog eyes." Rose stated, doing said cute expression.

Al melted and hugged her, love pouring through his body into his cousin's. Rose almost shivered with excitement.

"Gotcha." she smiled. Al nudged her. Rose read his mind and shushed him. Al looked utterly and supremely shocked. Rose wagged her finger.

"Hmm." she chided. "You're not going to voice those thoughts about how you supposedly get irritated with that expression, because you _know_ you love it."

"Hmph." Al joked. Rose laughed, then tensed.

"Oh." she whispered.

"What?" Al pondered, seeing worry in her face.

"Annie will strike back." Rose said. "She'll say every rose-"

"No, Roseflower. You don't have a thorn. Believe me. And if anyone says so, jokingly or - Merlin forbid the people that do - in a serious manner, as your friend, cousin, and most importantly, boyfriend, I will defend you." Al said, looking down at Rose. Al's green eyes met Rose's brown, and they kissed. Rose was breathing heavily afterwards.

"Oh, Albus..." she said silkily. Al grinned, the trademark Potter glint in his eye.

"Besides, Annie wouldn't say about roses and thorns. She's too friendly." he replied. Time passed, and at Halloween, Dom had taken it upon herself to bring in gigantic pumpkins. James had then, behind Dom's back, scooped out all the innards of the pumpkins.

"Ah!" Rose screamed - on October 31st, James was engaged in targeting unsuspecting victims with innards early on in the morning, and the current load had caught Rose straight in the mouth.

"You shouldn't yawn so much, Rosie. What are you doing up?" James chuckled.

"Nothing that concerns you, you twisted blighter." Rose answered frostily - last night, of course, she had snuggled up to Al. When she entered the Great Hall the redhead walked over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Cynthia? I want a favour." Rose said.

"Sure Rose." Cynthia grinned.

"Give James a scolding, will you? He aimed pumpkin innards at me and he hit me right on target - in the mouth. I tell you, pumpkin innards are gross, even though I love the juice." Rose replied, then walked back to the Gryffindor table, looking purely innocent.

"Hey Rosie. Happy Hallowe'en." Al said - he had come down for breakfast as Rose was talking to Cynthia.

"Hey Albie." Rose grinned. Then her eyes travelled to James. "Hello git."

"What's wrong?" Al asked, clearly concerned.

"Jamie-dear threw pumpkin innards at me." Rose hissed. Albus looked at his elder brother.

"Dude..." he said solemnly, shaking his head. "No. Just no."

"What?" James asked. Rose's eyes flashed dangerously. Albus put his hands on her shoulders and started massaging them gently. Rose let out a breath of relief.

"Even though I'm calm now, you're in for it James." she proclaimed. "And Al, you're going to help me get revenge."

"What?!" Al exclaimed. Rose whispered in his ear. "Glad to, Rosie-Posie."

"I'm wounded!" James cried, clutching his heart. Al and Rose chuckled as they started breakfast - James should be clutching his heart. However, after Cynthia's scolding, James chucked more pumpkin guts - this time his aim miscalculated and landed on McGonagall's Head chair, landing on her robes. An almighty huff from the Headmistress, and the Hall went silent.

"Where is Mr. Potter? James Sirius Potter!" McGonagall called. James slunk to the Head table.

"Detention, Potter!" McGonagall barked as she held onto James' ear and dragged him to her office to await further instructions. But when the metaphorical hammer fell it wasn't the Animagus that walked into the office. It was James' cousin Lucy, a seventh-year Gryffindor Prefect.

"Luce!" James cried, putting on his best 'save-me-from-terror-for-the-sake-of-family' look.

"McGonagall will be here for your detention at half past eight. And she wanted you to know you'll be sorting out rotten Flobberworms from good ones, to use in Potions, and - and she says there's no need to bring protective gloves." Lucy said primly.

"Right." James said glumly. "Thanks a lot, Lucy. Do I have permission to be excused until the detention?"

"I'll allow it." Lucy bit back.

"Thanks." James half-smiled, walking off. "And _that_ is how it's done!" he smirked, punching his hand in the air. When McGonagall dismissed the troublemaker from his detention at a late hour, Cynthia Goldstein was waiting. "Cynth, my lovely!" James smiled as he threw his arms around her.

"James, you're going to have to dial down the pranking a bit. Rose was very miffed."

"How- _Albus..._" James growled. _Let him believe what he wants_ Cynthia thought.

**AN: The delay was because of writer's block and life in general, I'm afraid. James' last line is a clear sign that he thinks that Albus is jumping to Rose's defense - will this make James find out? Rose's foreign phrase 'Eff-haristo' is Greek for 'thank you' - these things happen when you have a bilingual friend. Some of James' and Lucy's dialogue is influenced by a snippet between Harry and a minor character - you earn about twenty brownie points if you figure out the minor character that Lucy's part is being pretty much quoted from. The fifth chapter won't be written so slowly, I promise.**


	5. We Eat Bravery For Breakfast

**We Eat Bravery For Breakfast**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. Things begin to heat up here, and Al comes under pressure at the end of the chapter. I had the idea to make the big situation at the end a cliffhanger, but I couldn't do it; loyal readers deserve something, right? **

"So, what's the real revenge?" Al asked as he and Rose were lounging around in the Common Room alone.

"After James pranked me I squealed to Cynthia. She'll deal with him." Rose replied.

"Oh my..." Al trailed, fiddling with a lock of Rose's hair as he twirled it around his finger. Rose smiled cheekily at this.

"Hands off, you." she laughed.

"You love it." he chuckled. Footsteps sounded. The couple tensed and prayed.

"Hey." Dominique said as soon as she walked in. Al's and Rose's

bodies utterly relaxed as soon as they realised they were safe. A flicker of smile crossed Dom's face.

"Don't _do_ that!" Albus pouted. Dom chuckled.

"Just come out with the relationship soon." she said. "You're lucky it was me."

"And what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the badger caves?" Rose joked.

"Haha, Rosie. I'm just double-checking the common rooms." Dom replied.

"Everything's cool up here." Al said as he drew his arm around Rose and pulled her close. Rose felt a shiver. _This should be wrong, but it feels oh so right!_ she thought.

"I love you." Al muttered to her. Dom smiled. "People might think I'm messed in the head, but I mean every word that's said." the green-eyed boy continued. Rose leant in closer, resting on Al's chest.

"You're a poet and you don't know it." she purred. Dom coughed prominently. "If you're done double-checking, then clear off!" Rose scolded. The Head Girl winked and trotted back to the kitchens. Al ran his finger across Rose's back. Rose smiled.

"Was that November 2nd you just wrote on me?" she asked. Al beamed.

"Nine weeks of our relationship." he chuckled and grinned. Rose's eyes melted. "Aww. Al..." but she was cut off with a kiss. "Geroff!" came her muffled reply. Albus looked miffed.

"Rose. Don't do that to me." he said in a sad tone. Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Al, I didn't mean anything..." she trailed. Al's smile was back on his face.

"You, Rose Portia Weasley, will be tickled to death!" he declared, pinning his favourite cousin down and now Rose was a victim to Al's merciless hands, which moved all around her body to tickle her without a pause. After a minute, Rose let out an utter yell of laughter as Al targeted her two most sensitive spots simultaneously.

She looked up into Al's green orbs, letting her own eyes travel down his face from his shining green eyes to his dazzling white smile. At that point, Rose broke and kissed her cousin. Al was still smiling in_ that _way when the kiss ended.

"What's going on down here?" a familiar voice called. _Lily! _the couple realised, their thoughts in sync. Rose scrambled off Albus and stood up. Lily's footfalls creaked across the Common Room floor. "Rose?" the younger redhead asked.

"What is it Lils?" Rose asked, flashing her a winning smile. Lily knew immediately something was going on.

"What was that commotion?" she pondered. Rose played innocent again.

"What commotion?" the fourth-year asked.

"I heard a yell." Lily responded. This time Rose couldn't escape.

"I - tripped." she faltered lamely.

"Mm-hm..." Lily said, clearly not buying it.

"Alright... Al sprayed his aftershave on me as a joke. I was trapped." Rose fake-pleaded. Lily's brown eyes showed sympathy.

"_Right!_ Where is he? I want him to apologise to you!" she hissed. Al stood up.

"Sorry Rose." he apologised in a fake whine. Rose smiled. Lily was shocked.

"Whoa. Wasn't expecting that." the Potter daughter admitted. Al and Rose shared a look that clearly transmitted the thing that the black-haired boy was about to say.

"Believe me Lils, in the future there will be a fair few things you won't expect." Al grinned. "These are wise words from the minds of Albus Severus Potter and Rose Portia Weasley, do not forget them." he continued. Rose chuckled heartily and then yawned. Al's 'boyfriend side' kicked in. "Tired, Rosie? Go up. In fact..." he paused, rummaging around in his bag. "Here. Take the Cloak. It keeps you extra-comfy, I've found." he finished, slipping her a wink. Rose beamed, but Lily looked stumped. Rose took the Cloak and skipped upstairs to the fourth-year dorms. Lily looked at Al.

"What on earth-"

"Lily, I'd explain, but I'm really tired."

"Since when have you trusted Rose enough with the Invis-"

"Lily." Al half-demanded. Lily's rebuke stopped. She clicked that the battle was over.

"OK... goodnight Al." she responded, half-hugging her brother and walking up.

Al smiled. Rose may have joked about being sprayed with his aftershave, but all the middle Potter could smell was that intoxicating scent that defined Rose. And gone were the worries of 'this is your _cousin_ you're dating!' and 'Albus, how could you become so messed up in the brain?' - all that mattered to Al that he cared for Rose with all his heart. An almost sneaky smile came across his face when he thought about the double-meaning of his 'wise words' to Lily. His plan was being formed as the cogs were spinning in his mind. But sleepiness took over in a matter of seconds and the student trotted up clumsily to his dormitory.

"Albus... Al... Albie." Rose almost moaned in his ear a few hours later. Al opened his eyes. Rose's head was floating in mid-air. It was a true Gryffindor trait that Al didn't scream out in utter fear. "I figured out the hint. And you're right, the Cloak makes this sneaking around easier. Now let me in." she smiled. Al beamed in response.

"With pleasure, milady." he grinned, almost pinning Rose down in haste to receive her body warmth and said action made the Cloak slip off her. It was a testament to the telepathy the couple shared that Al could pull Rose close while she was invisible.

"The words you said to Lily..." Rose breathed, almost drinking in Albus' green eyes.

"Yes, Roseflower?"

"Well... the 'fair few things she won't expect'. I take it we won't be sneaking around for much longer? Brave, Potter."

"Quite right, I'm a Potter. And we Potters eat bravery for breakfast." Al mock-snorted.

"You know what I mean. Are we coming out with the secret?" Rose whispered.

"Yes. It's time to put the situation I told Dom about into action." Al responded.

"So we're going to sit our nearest and dearest down and announce we're together?" Rose pondered. Al nodded, kissed Rose on the temple and drifted off. The next morning, Al woke up feeling warm. He looked next to him and smiled. Rose was sleeping angelically, her bushy red hair looking like a lion's mane. Al stroked the freckles across his cousin's nose. Rose shivered, opening an eye.

"Will you stop finding such... _sensual _ways of waking me up?" she grinned. Al grinned back and shook his head. Rose face-palmed and literally hopped out of the bed. The springs squeaked and one of Al's dormmates turned over in his sleep, letting out a mumble. Al looked edgy. "Sorry." Rose whisper-squeaked.

"Just get dressed, Flower." Al murmured, smiling.

Rose looked at him, and as he blew her a kiss, she went off to the girls' dorm, feeling giddy. As a result of the giddiness, the young Weasley decided to change into her robes quickly and speed down to the Great Hall before Al could catch her. When he walked into the Hall, Albus noticed his girlfriend sitting with James and Lily.

"_Kali-mera_, Albie._ Tee-caneese_?" Rose pondered, smiling. Al's eyes glinted.

"Just fine, Rosey-Rose." he replied. James and Lily looked befuddled. The couple burst out laughing, Al fainting in hysterics and gripping the table to get up and sit down. James and Lily looked more confused than ever.

"You two are just plain_ bonkers_." Lily finally said, once the fourth-years had stopped.

"Nutty." James agreed.

"Foolish." Lily sighed.

"We've only just begun, I'm afraid." Rose chuckled. Albus laughed, but Rose could tell he didn't quite get the pun. So she whispered the true connection of the joke.

"What's the deal?" Lily asked. Al wagged his finger.

"Fair few things, Lil."

"Oh..." Lily trailed. James raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, Dom turned up.

"Soooo... what's going on with the Potters and one distinguished Weasley?" she smiled, crinkling her nose very slightly.

"Oh Dommie, you think you're a superstar." Rose grinned, giving Al another glance.

"Lately Dom, Rose and I have been upholding the Weasley tradition of, well, being Weasleys and causing general madness." Al beamed. Dominique looked rather baffled as James shrieked 'Huzzah for general madness!' and Lily sighed in exasperation. "Lily! I'm surprised at you!" Al exclaimed, clutching his heart and clunking his head onto the table.

"Al!" Rose cried, her voice cracking. A muffled moan was her only response. Al eventually prised himself up. "Are you OK, favourite cousin of mine?" Rose asked.

"I'm good, Rosie." Al replied. Dom looked rather suspicious. Al looked at her and gave a negligible head-jerk. Then something suddenly dawned on him.

"Oh Merlin, I forgot..." he trailed. And with that the middle Potter walked off to the Ravenclaw table. Rose trusted Al enough despite the fact she didn't know what he was up to, but she knew James would wind Al up if Al talked to a particular 'Claw. Unfortunately, this is precisely what Albus did.

"Hey Katherine." Al half-smiled. Katherine Macmillan looked up from her toast.

"Hi Al." she replied. "Is that Herbology revision session still on?"

"Actually that's what I just remembered." Al chuckled. "I'm rather forgetful. Lucky your father was a Herbology star in his day. You've inherited his talents."

"Pffft. You know the teacher personally." Katherine smirked.

"I'll bet you do as well. But to be true to your point, my mum told James 'don't forget to give Neville our love!' as I was boarding the train in my first-year." Al said.

"Why did you say I probably know Prof. Longbottom personally?" Katherine asked.

"Your dad was a Prefect in his fifth-year along with Hannah Longbottom, wasn't he?"

"Back when she was Hannah Abbott, yes. But no, I don't know the Longbottoms outside of school. I only speak to Annie every once in a while, actually."

"Ah. Right, so see you in the library at seven?" Albus asked. Katherine nodded, grinning. "Great." Al smiled, and then walked off back to the lion table.

"So, what's the deal there?" Lily asked. Al briefly looked at Rose, then at Lily.

"Katherine's going to help me revise for Herbology." Al said.

"Well, you know what they say about study buddies- ow!" James shrieked as Rose elbowed in the ribs and gave him a rather fierce glare reminiscent of the annoyed look that Hermione gave Harry and Ron back in their schooldays (and occasionally now, actually), and the troublemaker's smile disappeared instantly.

"James, for the last time, I'm not interested in Katherine." Albus said fiercely.

"Alright, alright..." James muttered. Rose huffed comically.

"Honestly, James. You make it as though Al's_ entelos emmone ithea_ with Katherine." she laughed. Al himself looked confused for a second then laughed along. James just scratched his head, not getting it.

"Well, let me take a leaf out of Rose's book and say we should go to lessons." Lily proclaimed.

"Why oh why, Lily dear?" Rose asked, grinning devillishly.

"Albus, have you been slipping her potions?" Lily pondered. Al shook his head.

"Let's a little_ look _at your timetable - awww." Rose crooned.

"I'll have it _back_, thank _you!_" Lily bit back, grabbing her timetable. "Besides, it's only Herbology."

"With_ Ravenclaw_." Rose smirked. James and Al looked at their sister with mischief in their eyes.

"Shut it..." Lily mumbled, turning a shade of pink and rushing off. Rose chuckled.

"Lord, she's only twelve. I didn't act like that at that age." she quoted. Al whispered something. "For your information, Al, I didn't." Rose continued.

"You're telling me you never even had the beginnings of teacher-crushes?" Al asked genuinely, no humour in his voice.

"No. Why? Oh, you _didn't_..." Rose trailed, never thinking that her favourite cousin would do such a standard. Honestly, Albus Severus Potter wasn't like that at all.

"No he didn't, although I hear Teddy did in_ his _Hogwarts days." James declared, butting in with a big grin on his face. Al's and Rose's mouths plain dropped.

"Teddy? Really? Who did he like?" Rose whispered in shock. James smiled.

"Professor Brocklehurst." the brown-eyed boy smirked. Al shook his head, holding it in his hands. Rose pulled a 'oh-dear-lord-ew' face. "Sure, back when Teddy was 12, Professor Brocklehurst was only 30..."

"_Only _thirty? James, that is disgustingly immoral!" Rose hissed, her eyes blazing.

"Add this to the fact to that when I told Ted about my first Charms lesson in my first summer break his liking for Prof. Brocklehurst was the first thing he told about his memories of the class-"

"Stop it!" Al declared, hitting his brother with a Tongue-Tying Curse. James shot the other two a look and then walked off. Rose high-fived Al and hugged him.

"Nice one."

"No problem. Now let's get to our own lesson." Rose chirped.

"And there you go again." Al fake-moaned.

"What 'there I go again'?" Rose pondered suspiciously.

"Being all chirpy for lessons. It _sickens_ me." Al joked, making a face on 'sickens'.

"Shut up..." Rose smiled, pulling her arm around Al's midriff. "Come on."

Al followed obediently. In the back of his mind he could hear Dominique and Annie making 'wa-cheeeesh!' noises, but ignored it. Throughout the day, the couple couldn't help share secret little smiles and loving glances. Luckily, on the one time Annie might have caught them, it seemed like a trick of the light. At dinner, when not many Gryffs were around her, Rose held her wand below her chin, inhaling and exhaling. What no-one realised was that she was breathing 'Rose Potter'.

"Interesting, Rosey-Rose." a familiar voice declared. Rose stiffened, a slight smile on her face though, turning torwards the source of said voice.

"Silly Rosie. You possess an astonishing memory, and yet you forget I can lip-read." Al chuckled. Rose went a rather vibrant shade of pink. After food and banter, Al realised time was ticking.

"Oh Merlin. I have to go." he muttered. Rose looked at her watch she carried.

"Six-fifty. Katherine's revision?" she pondered, smiling.

"Well, my revision technically." Al smiled. Rose cleared her throat.

"Just tell me something." the Weasley daughter asked in all seriousness.

"Hmm?" Al responded in musing.

"You don't... you know... do you?" Rose asked in worry. Al looked shocked.

"No I don't." he replied, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Rosie, I'm loyal to you. Only you. There's no-one else who could catch my eye like you have." he purred. Shivers ran up Rose's spine. With a quick but loving kiss on the cheek, Al parted from his beloved girlfriend with a wave. Rose looked really depressed - Albus' words had only reinforced her true passion for him, and it was a slight ache to see him go. Al himself was filled with thoughts of Rose and her amazing company until he was shaken from his daze by the library door shutting - from this distance, he would bet from the black hair was a sign that Megan Finch-Fletchley had just walked in there - the hair had the signs of slight off-colour highlights.

Al smirked. He looked around the corridor and then down at his feet. _Damn it, Rose. You've influenced my feet to have a mind of their own_ he thought, a smile gracing his face. He inhaled and went in.

"Look who's punctual." Katherine beamed at him, smiling.

"And this is_ just _the type of the behaviour that's going to get me in trouble." Al chuckled. Katherine looked confused. Al laughed quietly and sat down. "Let's just get down to business." he said.

"Whoa, easy. So eager to rush into work? You sound like your dear cousin Rose. And since you have you denied me the privilege of messing around with you?"

"Katherine..." Al trailed. His study buddy grinned and fiddled with her quill. "_Oi!_"

"Whoops. Ink blot." the Ravenclaw giggled. "You're at the mercy of my quill, Potter."

"Not likely, Macmillan." Al said. After a few more laughs and lots of work, Al put the textbooks down. "Phee-ew!" he exhaled. Megan had taken this opportunity to creep behind Al.

"Heart attack, Al!" she whisper-exclaimed, jumping. Al twisted his chair around.

"With you around, Megan, there's high chance of that!" he huffed. Katherine's shoulders shook as she tried to keep a straight face. "Blimey, it's attack of black and yellow, isn't it, Megan? First Dom and Annie, now you... good Merlin." he mused.

"Dom I can understand, because she's your cousin, but what's Annie gone and done? Last big thing to involve Annie I knew was-"

"_Thank_ you Megan, and I- hang on, you _know_ about- but you can't!" Al looked surprised. Very surprised indeed.

"I know Al. Annie gloried in her victory in the 'Puff common room. _Why_ did Hugo dye her hair blue and red anyway?" Megan pondered. Albus shrugged.

"Hang on though. You said Dom got on your nerves as family members do." Katherine started. "But what about Rose?" At this, Al went stiff.

"Rose and I have that familial bond which is an undercurrent for our best-friends-forever link. It doesn't get in the way of anything." he said, smiling. "Anyway, I must be going to escape the utter terror of-"

"Nerve, Mr. Potter. Nerve." Katherine and Megan in unison, smirking.

"Hang on, Al." Katherine continued. Al turned around. "When you said 'Justthe type of the behaviour that's going to get you in trouble'..."

"Ask James. Coniving little git." Al said, a slight smile on his face when he imagined the payback he had in store, and walked out. "See you guys around."

"Bye Al." the girls chorused. As he walked the seventh-floor corridor, he bumped into James and Cynthia.

"Going for a stroll?" Al chuckled. Cynthia laughed sharply. "No need for drama. Well actually... now I come to think of it... maybe you should bring Cynthia along, James." Al said, something finally dawning on him. The three of them walked into the lion common room. Al discovered Lily and Hugo playing chess in a corner - Hugo was winning. Lily was getting rather frustated. James and Al shared a look.

"Hey Hugh. Know where Rosie is?" Albus asked jovially. Hugo looked up.

"Getting some revision done. I think her words were 'Al's catching up, this is a perfect opportunity for me to'." the chess-master quoted. "And... checkmate!" but his final words could not be heard over Lily's anguished howls of 'damn it!'.

"Right. Lily, Cynthia, go get Rose and the three of you meet us in the fourth-years' boys dorm." Al said. After all six were in the dorm, Al hugged Rose and pulled close.

"Hang on a sec..." Cynthia mused. "Why I do get the feeling that you two have a secret to tell us?" she said, a grin on her face since she cared for Al and Rose.

"Well, actually we do." Rose said, beaming. "You see guys, Albus and I..."

"We're sort of..." Al continued weirdly, but this was never going to be easy.

"Well - we're together." Rose grinned, kissing Al's lips. The other four were stiff. Then Rose saw the shivers go through Lily's body. James was tensely speechless.

"This is just..." Cynthia sputtered. Rose sighed - if the Ravenclaw couldn't catch it... "Weird." Cynthia finished.

"That's_ one _way of putting it." James said through gritted teeth, his eyes on Al. "You twisted... your cousin. Seriously, your own cousin?"

"I love her. She means everything to me, and no-one ever has like this before." Al responded. Rose went bright red. Lily suddenly remembered something.

"I suppose Al didn't spray you did he?"

"No I didn't Lil. Rosie's been sleeping by my side in my bed. My aftershave clings onto her." Al smiled. "I'm Mr. _Scent_-imental all right, but Rose smelled of it a bit too."

"Hugh?" Rose asked her brother, who had been quiet throughout.

"Y-you're in f-f-for it." Hugo stammered quietly. Rose raised an eyebrow. "I mean with Mum and Dad. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny will probably kick up a fuss too."

"I guess they'll come to terms with it, but it's going to take some time." Rose smiled, a sparkle in her eyes. "If you love us both Hugo, you'll accept this." she said as she stroked Al's jaw. James was torn between hexing Al for being 'twisted', and pleased that his brother and cousin had found happiness. Lily had her eyes closed, trying to process it, and Hugo and Cynthia were smiling loosely. "Now all we have to do is reveal it properly to the rest of Hogwarts." Rose grinned.

"That won't sit easily with others." Lily pointed out. Al waved a dismissive hand to her.

"Well I wish you happiness." Cynthia said. "Sure, it'll be hard to reveal your relationship, but you seem pretty confident." Al smiled in appreciation to the 'Claw.

"Now we want some alone time." he said, ignoring the looks as the others walked out. "And no Extendable Ears!" he echoed. Rose kissed him passionately.

**AN: More writer's block and life holding me back (sometimes I can't type a word some days), but I sped up my writing a bit this time. Seventies music buffs might laugh at the hidden references in some Rose quotes. She says 'superstar', 'we've only just begun' and 'it's going to take some time' all in this chapter - they are in fact, at the same time, Carpenters song names. Richard Carpenter **_**did **_**actually marry his cousin, so the joke was practically begging to be written. Being a lifelong Carpenters fan didn't really help me resist the urge to write it, either. Rose's Greek tricks are pulled again as well. 'Kali-mera' and 'Tee-caneese' mean 'good morning' and 'How are you?'**


	6. Oh God Help Us!

**Oh God Help Us!**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. The secret's out, and now Al and Rose have to try to live peacefully as Hogwarts grips this information. I'm upping the story rating to 'T' because of this chapter - there are a few steamy kissing scenes hinted at, and the phrase 'unpleasant little scrotum' is included as a character description. Paranoia is the curse of every writer, I know. **

Rose was relaxing in the library reading a book on one of her favourite topics ('Nutter' James and Lily quoted - they both got hexed by Al for this) when Cynthia suddenly turned up out of the blue.

"Hey Rose." the Ravenclaw grinned. Rose lifted her head and smiled.

"Engrossed? Typical of you. I've been engrossed too, with some geneological digging, just to prove that-" Cynthia paused to lower her voice "yours and Al's relationship." she then resumed at normal volume. "-isn't as twisted as it seems. Look at old pureblood cases you've heard about."

"True." Rose mused, rubbing her chin with the feather of a spare quill.

"Here, look at these notes I made with a very detailed family tree sketch." Cynthia beamed, unfolding parchment and placing it on the table. Rose peered, intrigued. "Aha. A Potter marrying a Black somewhere along the way in history. Makes sense for Sirius Black and James Potter The First to be distantly related, actually." the ginger girl laughed. Cynthia smirked a solemn smile.

"You think that's strange, hmm? Look at another line. See if there's another familiar name, three generations down from Phineas Nigellus."

"But Cynthia, I don't see- oh. Oh! _This _is tricky." Rose stammered. She'd seen Arthur Weasley's name. Cynthia saw the cogs whirring in Rose's head and nodded.

"If my calculations are correct, and I doubt they aren't, your Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny are third-cousins." the older girl said. Rose nearly bellowed with a mix of emotions but stopped herself, then skimmed the tree Cynthia had made. "Teddy's here too. Dom will be weirded out then." she commented.

"Fourth-cousins-once-removed." the wise eagle said, nodding and nearly laughing.

"I think we have a visit to pay to our favourite Potter siblings." Rose smirked, rolling up the tree and heading off to the Gryff common room. After Rose said the password, the girls walked in to find James and Albus playing chess in a corner. Luckily, the room was relatively empty. Al saw the girls first and smiled.

"Hey Rosey-Rose." he beamed, pecking her on the cheek as she sat down.

"Hey Albie." Rose replied, snuggling into him. James face-palmed.

"I never said I'd be cool with this instantly."

"Actually James, you should be. Look." Cynthia said, showing him the tree.

"But _Cynth_-"

"Your parents are related to each other, James." she replied in a no-nonsense manner. Both James and Albus froze at this, putting down their chess pieces. Al looked at Rose, who nodded.

"Third-cousins." she stated. After Al's inital shock, a sly smile appeared on his face.

"What?!" James asked, utterly perplexed. Al's smile grew larger.

"Checkmate!" he screamed. James looked at the board and Al's piece he'd used.

"NO!" the elder Potter bellowed. "Not fair, I wasn't concerntrating! Albus, you swine!"

"There's my chess champion." Rose whispered. Al blushed slightly.

"You can't be telling the truth. Mum and Dad aren't related, are they?" James asked.

"Yep. The Potters and Weasleys are both descended from the Blacks. Your great-grandmother on your dad's side was a Black before she got married, and a female Black descendant married Septimus Weasley." Cynthia said bluntly as she traced the appropriate lines back with her fingers for James.

"Well blast me." he stammered. "I guess I can't criticise you." he continued, looking at Albus and Rose, who smiled before cuddling. Al whispered something into Rose's ear, and she nodded, grinning more than ever, then something came to her.

"Hey, weren't Teddy and Dom the first ones to know about us?" she pondered to Al.

"Well, they were the first ones to find out about my feelings for you, if you want specifics." he corrected with a eye-glint. Rose lightly pouted as Al ruffled her hair.

"Hmm. Funny, because..." the lion brainbox proclaimed, gesturing to the tree.

"What the hell?!" James exclaimed - Albus said the same question in sync, but in just mild shock. The green-eyed boy then proceeded to study the family tree to figure it out.

"They're fourth-cousins-once-removed." he declared.

"Good Merlin... please tell me they know that." James mumbled. Rose smiled.

"Oh no." James groaned, knowing what that smile meant. Albus shrugged nonchalantly. By miracle of miracles, a certain Lily Luna Potter decided to walk in.

"What's going on?" the second-year asked.

"Tincy bit of fun studying." Al laughed. Lily looked purely baffled.

"The words 'fun' and 'studying' shouldn't be in the same sentence, and if they are the sentence comes out of Rose's mouth." she stammered, narrowly avoiding a hex from Rose at the criticism.

"I just found out that dear Teddy is related to us." James told his sister.

"Well _duh_, he's our godbrother." Lily dead-panned, rolling her eyes.

"And also our third-cousin-twice-removed." James said. Lily's jaw dropped.

"Oh, and Scorpius Malfoy is that relation to us as well." Albus inspected, shrugging. "Hmm. He's not a_ bad _bloke, I guess. Just a bit uptight at times."

"Dad was wrong to keep his prejudice." Rose commented.

"Granddad Weasley would never forgive you for marrying a pureblood." James laughed, elbowing Rose and quoting Ron's words on the platform on Al's and Rose's first day of their Hogwarts career. Rose tackled him.

"Ahhh!" James screamed. "Help!" he continued, pinned down by his crazy cousin. "HELP ME!" he positively screamed, his eyes pleading with Cynthia. But Miss Goldstein was too busy shrieking with laughter at the comical scene before her. "Pr-protego!" she laughed, casting her wand at Rose. Rose screamed, being flung backwards. "Ah, the wonders of a shield charm." Cynthia grinned. Albus looked annoyed. In fact, he looked very ruddy annoyed at Cynthia's mindless violence. Rose absent-mindedly wondered how a shield charm could linger its effects on a human.

"Gee, wonder of a spell there." Rose mumbled as James, seeing that he was free from Rose, got up grinning. Al faced Cynthia with a stone-cold look.

"Don't get all defensive!" the Ravenclaw declared as Lily was chanting 'Albie wurves Wosie' in an immature voice. Al fought the urge to give Lily a rude gesture. He sighed as Rose snuggled into him again.

"You know, you're right. You guys do look sweet together, the cousin thing aside." James said. Albus thankfully smiled at James and then kissed Rose.

"Well Annie once said that we were the total epitome of cuteness." Rose beamed.

"That's Annie for you." Al smiled, silently thanking his close friend. "Even if she does seem to have an Invisibility Cloak."

"How's that?" Cynthia asked.

"She always turns up in the most random places." Rose replied. "Actually, come to think of it, so do you." Cynthia connected the dots at what Rose might be getting at.

"Oh, that's why Dom defended you when I suddenly saw you three the other day. She knew."

"Yep." Rose grinned, ruffling Al's hair. James chuckled. "What?" Rose pondered.

"The look that'll cross Uncle Ron's face when he finds out about you."

"That's not funny. And besides, when we do tell the whole family, we're going to be nice and calm about it so hopefully they'll be OK." Albus declared.

"Have you _seen_ Mum's Bat-Bogeys?" Lily reasoned. Al face-palmed.

"One slight hiccup-" but James never got to finish his sentence.

"_One slight hiccup!_ Aunt Ginny's Bat-Bogeys are _demonic!_" Rose exclaimed.

"Fun as this has been, especially watching Al and Rose get all lovey-" Cynthia openly giggled when both Al and Rose went absolute brick-red "I must retreat to the land of fresh parchment and ink." she half-smiled, walking out. James pouted. "Oh fine." the Ravenclaw sighed playfully, doubling back to give James a kiss on the cheek. "Bye guys." she waved, walking out for sure this time. The next day Rose and Scorpius were Potions partners - Gryffindor and Slytherin _still_ had the class together.

"Hello Rose." the Slytherin half-smiled. Rose looked at him.

"Hey Scorpius." Rose said, her mouth twitching. "I'll go get the armadillo bile." she continued, walking off to the store cupboard.

"It's strange that Albus is alongside us in this class making the Wit-Sharpening Potion." Scorpius commented once Rose had returned. "I'm not sure whether he would need it or not."

"Are you insulting or complimenting my dear cousin, Mr. Malfoy?" Rose asked, a look in her eye. Scorpius seemed to shrink a little.

"Haven't made up my mind." he mumbled.

"Well let's hope for your sake you're complimenting me." Al piped up. "And Rosie?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for the 'dear cousin' label."

"No problem at all Albie." Rose smiled lovingly as Scorpius grounded the scarab beetle. After the lesson, Al and Rose had a good laugh about its events.

"Imagine Scorpius suggesting that you need to become wittier!" Rose chuckled.

"I know! I mean, Wit-Sharpening Potion also has its uses in making the drinker think clearer. Some people might think I need for that purpose when I do stuff like this." Al said, finishing with a kiss on Rose's lips. A light blush donned Rose's cheeks.

"Aww. Embarassed?" Al teased, tickling his girlfriend.

Rose shook her head mutely, her face burning. "You _are! _I find it sweet that after eleven weeks of being with me, wittle Wosie still gets embawassed." Al smirked, copying Lily's immature voice. Rose playfully nudged him, still as red as her hair. As they neared the end of the corridor and Rose's blush calmed, they saw a very strange sight. Megan Finch-Fletchley, covered in pimples, with her eyes watering due to the effects of the curse (not from emotion).

"What happened?" Rose asked, approaching Megan with concern.

"Flint." Megan moped. Al gripped his wand tightly - Marcus Flint Junior, a fifth-year, was the nastiest Slytherin around. A few, like Scorpius, derived their behaviour from the redemption that some green-and-silver-clad names had managed to get. But there were still unpleasant little scrotums like Flint Junior still helping the dark snake reputation linger. Red and gold sparks flew from the offensive instrument.

"We'll repay that favour, Megan. Mark my words." Rose supplied.

"You will?" Megan questioned. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Megan, when have we not been nice to you? Sure, Al dearest makes jokes about your hair, but it's all in jest."

"Not to mention that your brother will do his nut if he saw this and act all 'chivalrous', driven by blind stupidity." Al whispered to Rose. Rose nodded slightly, a slight smile crossing her face. She was fighting so hard not to laugh at Al's words. "No doubt about it Megan, you said 'if anyone gives you trouble, tell me', and we're doing the same for you." Al proclaimed. Megan smiled and patted Al's shoulder in gratitude. Rose ran off, looking for the one person who could help. Al smiled awkwardly.

"She's so _Gryffindor_." Megan sighed comically, tilting her head in Rose's direction.

"Hugo is _way_ worse. Well, he and Rose _are_ Ron and Hermione Weasley's children."

"You do realise you're slating your cousins?" Megan half-laughed. Al shrugged.

"Rose is my best friend until the day I die. We can tease each other endlessly and it won't matter." Al stated, his heart hammering with love for his redheaded beauty.

"Al? You OK? You look a little flushed." Megan noticed. Albus nodded weakly.

"Help is _here!_" Rose proclaimed, dragging a disgruntled Scorpius in tow. "_Nowww_ Scorpius, tell us the Slytherin common room password." But Scorpius looked negligent to do so.

"Oi!" Albus yelled. "Tell us!" he continued, blowing his top.

"M-monty cobra." Scorpius stammered, truly scared now having witnessed Al's rage.

"Good boy." Rose smiled, patting his head. Megan cheered up at this.

"No need to be patronising. You could have asked_ nicely_." Scorpius stated.

"Eh. Not my style." Rose laughed. Al chuckled deeply, knowing what her style was.

"Oh god help us!" Scorpius squawked, running off immediately. Megan's chest was hurting after screaming with laughter at the tone of the squawk.

"I guess I should go to Madam Pomfrey." she laughed. Rose shook her head.

"I have a better idea." she smiled, winking. "Just tell Dom to Accio a Bubotuber. She should have special Head Girl permission. Squeeze it onto a cloth, and dab the cloth on your face."

"Thanks Rose." Megan smiled, walking off to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Hugo will bow down to you." Al smirked. Rose shrugged.

"Oh gee, I may have helped out the girl he's sort-of awkwardly crushing on. That didn't cross my mind." she giggled, playing dumb. Al suddenly started skipping.

"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz..." he sung. Rose looked at him as though he'd gone completely utterly mad.

"What, and I repeat, _what_ - the - ruddy - _hell_?" she questioned, supremely perplexed.

"I just felt like singing." Al reasoned, giving Rose the puppy-dog eyes. She sighed.

"You're mad."

"You love me for it." Al proclaimed.

"True." Rose reasoned, stroking his shoulder.

"Now who's being sensual? You're shouldering me Rosie." Al beamed with a laugh.

"Shouldering you, hmm? More like shuddering." Rose purred. Al _did_ shudder at that.

"Are you sure there's not a cat gene left in your mother from the Polyjuice Potion? Because you seem to have inherited it." Al said. Rose led him to a broom cupboard.

"Hideaways can appear at the most random of times." she whispered. Al eye-rolled.

"Rose, why don't we just go to the Room of-"

"But _Al!_" Rose pretended to whine. Al naively believed her. "I want a snog from my favourite cousin!" she fake-whined. Al scooped her into his arms and Rose opened the cupboard door with her wand. After a good ten minutes, Al came out of there covered in hickeys, Rose with a manic smile on her face. Al thought she looked 'evil'.

"Oh be quiet you. You wanted those." she grinned. Al nodded numbly with reason. "Cat got your tongue?" Rose purred. Al snorted with laughter.

"I'll get you back." he replied.

"You sure?"

"Look who was all meek and 'I'm so embarassed!'" Al supplied. Rose hung her head.

"OK Potter, you win this round."

"Win this round of what?" James asked, appearing in the corridor. "What do I win this round of?" His eyes darted to Al, then Rose, then back to Al. Rose walked backwards, hoping to shield the cupboard from James' view - but she failed to do so. "I'm not the Potter in question, am I?" he reasoned, an echo of a gleam in his eye.

"_Oristika ochi_." Rose half-smiled, recovering from the shock of James appearing. James looked at Al. Al smiled knowingly. "Damn you Albus Severus." James pouted.

"My namesakes' bravery live on in me." Al defended. Rose grinned sneakily.

"It was brave of you to sneak around with me all that time, sweet Albie." she beamed, pecking him on the cheek.

"All that time?" James questioned. "Just _how _long have you two been together?"

"Since the first day of the year. I opened up to Rose on the train ride." Al replied. "I was ready to do it straight away but then you and Cynthia interrupted me." he mock-scowled.

Rose laughed, muttering something in Al's ear which made him blush.

"My mock-scowl is _not _adorable!" the green-eyed boy muttered. Rose giggled.

"Oh Merlin above..." James sighed. Rose punched him. "Oi! You had no rights to-"

"I _did_, thank you very much."

"Calm down guys." Al protested.

"Alright, Mr. Peacemaker. Hang _on..._" James trailed, noticing Al's neck. Al blushed. "That's really dirty Rose." the elder Potter said, supressing a shudder and a look.

"He wanted the hickeys. Who am I to say no to my lovely Albie?" Rose proclaimed. Al squirmed on the spot. His girlfriend swept him up in a big hug. "I love you."

"I'll love you 'til my dying day." Al smiled, chuckling. James raised an eyebrow. "I told Megan Finch-Fletchley that Rose is my best friend 'til the day I die. There was an undercurrent, of course, that Megan didn't see."

"Awwww!" Rose beamed. Al leaned down. James cleared his throat.

"Go bug Lily in that god-awful big-brotherly way that you do." Al moaned, pausing to shove James out of the way and point a finger in the opposite direction.

James stomped away, and the lovers could catch him muttering stuff about 'lovesick Al', 'soppy Rose' and 'pesky romance hidden away in broom cupboards'.

"Bugger off!" Rose yelled, pausing the makeout session to yell at James, only to pull Al down again and embrace him very passionately. The snogging ended up back in the cupboard with Al giving Rose a shoulder massage afterwards. In true romantic fashion, Rose had chiselled a small 'AP + RW' into the inside corner of the cupboard, the message being chiselled inside a love heart as well.

"That will be found. You'll get done in." Al reasoned.

"To hell with it." Rose smirked devillishly.

"If your mother could hear you now she'd be over to Hogwarts in a flash." Al gasped.

"Need I quote _Hogwarts: A History_? Besides, speaking of mothers, you've got the Oedipus complex, dearie." Rose smirked even more, a glint in her eyes now.

"The what now?" Al asked.

"Muggle thing." Rose told him. Al pouted. "Oh Al." Rose sighed, kissing him again. There was only one thought on her mind as Al's green eyes searched her brown ones. _He may have the Oedipus complex, but I don't care. I love him_.

**AN: So sorry about the long wait, but life has thrown me some right curves lately and my Ralbus-related energy sapped away for a while. I've done some of my usual tongue-in-cheek tricks though, because I wanted fellow ultimate Potterheads to scour this chapter for my in-depth jokes - if you can find them! Thank goodness it's summer, so my chapter-writing might speed up, but you never know. In the next chapter, the time-frame will leap from mid-November to the Christmas break. I already have the scene in my head for when Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione find out about Al and Rose dating - it'll be epic!**


	7. That's Exploding Candy For Your Enemies

**That's Exploding Candy For Your Enemies**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. The Christmas break is here, and things will surely explode (no pun intended on the chapter title, which is actually a movie quote. And I had to lift it straight out of the film it's from, even though I'm British). **

The Hogwarts students that had opted to go home for the break were on the Express for Christmas. James, Cynthia and Al were sitting in a compartment, waiting for Rose to return from the lavatory - the four had become very close-knit since James calmed down about 'Ralbus', as he called it (having pinched the name from Dominique, one of four of Weasley grandchildren who knew about the relationship). Al was doodling on a spare scrap of parchment. Cynthia looked over, saw the doodle, and sighed heavily, almost biting back a throaty laugh. Al had drawn a rose.

"I want to thump him. Can I thump him?" she asked James. James kept silent, but then a moment later whacked Al.

"Ahhhh!" Al screamed, coming back to reality. "What was_ that _for?!"

"Your insane drawings." Cynthia smiled loosely. Al blushed. "Awww." Cynthia cooed. Al grumbled incoherently. Rose walked back in. Cynthia grinned at her.

"What?" Rose asked, clearly on edge.

"We're just discussing how much Albie's heart pounds when he thinks about you."

"_I'm_ the only one who gets to call Al that nickname because I'm his other half, and - hang on... oh _Al!_" Rose finished, hugging him immensely. Al was turning purple.

"You can thank me later." Cynthia winked. Al's green orbs bored into Cynthia's skull. She cringed a bit. "James... he's scaring me." she fake-whined. James hugged her.

"Whipped!" Al coughed.

"Mum'll probably get her secret cat-'o'-nine-tails out soon, so you'll be whipped." James reminded him. All the colour drained from Albus' face. Rose squirmed.

"Why oh why will this escalate into such a problem? Just because we're cousins who happen to have fallen for each other? Considering our 'unimaginable' power of magic, this world is limited in open-minded views." Rose quoted, making air signs.

"Ironically, that's what they say about pure-blood marriages. There are so little different pure-bloods left, you'll probably have to marry a relation, however distant."

"Thanks for pointing out that delicious irony, James!" Rose exhaled, grinning.

"You know that never really crossed my mind, to be honest." Al said. "But you're right Rosie, why are people so conceited about this sort of thing?"

"Your namesake swung for the other team." Cynthia pointed out. Al thanked her silently with his eyes. Annie then walked into the compartment.

"Hey." she greeted.

"Hi Annie." the Potter boys replied. Rose smiled a hello, and Cynthia did a slight head-jerk. Annie sensed that something was up.

"Cynthia, I-"

"Annie, that was just a muscle spasm. I'm not angry." Cynthia half-smiled.

"The reason that Cynthia could possibly be mad is buried way in the past." James said. Al's sneaky streak reared its head and he thought to play a trick on his brother.

"What reason? Ohhh... that you always went goo-goo eyes for Miss Longbottom when you were both little kids?" Al smirked. James was ready to strangle him while Annie's eyes popped.

"Really?" she asked, intrigued. James nodded. "Aww." Annie nudged him playfully.

"You seem to have a charm over Potter boys." Cynthia winked.

"Rosie thought so. When she was guessing who I liked at the start of the year, you were her first guess." Al commented, his eyes on Annie. Rose tensed.

"W-when Al mentioned h-he liked someone, I d-did think on some d-degree that it might h-have been you." she stammered, blushing from embarassment.

"Tish and pish, Rose! You can see all along that Al has eyes for only one girl." Annie grinned. Rose blushed harder.

"I'm not denying it." Al sighed with happiness, leaning against his beloved cousin. Anyone would have thought that Rose was about to explode.

"That's what we were talking about when you walked in and we said 'speak of the devil'." Rose said. Dom walked in, claiming 'Head Girl rounds'.

"Right, family meeting." James teased, ushering Annie and Cynthia out.

"Oi!" came the unified cry, along with a 'you can't push me out!' from Cynthia.

"Ooh, does little Miss Goldstein dream of being Mrs. Potter in a few years?" Dom asked. "Already thinking yourself part of the family?"

"It would seem so. See you guys." Annie smiled, walking out.

"Tchah! Cut it with the 'little Miss Goldstein' stuff, I'm only a year younger than you, and furthermore-" but Cynthia never got to finish that rant seeing as her lips were then pressed against James'.

"Reminds you of us, don't you think?" Al teased Rose. A plunging noise emerged.

"Thank you _very much _for_ that!_" James muttered, pulling away from his girlfriend.

"Broom cupboard..." Rose giggled. James put his wand to his head. Dom sighed.

"Get over it. Love is love." the Head Girl mumbled. Rose pounced on Dominique and hugged her, whispering 'thank you's.

"Hufflepuffs can be loyal after all." Al mused. Dom threw him a right evil look.

"Who defended you two in times of need?" she hissed maniacally.

"Megan did. That's who Al's referring to." Rose teased with a shrug and a smile. Dom then proceeded to stomp out with a Veela-like fury. Rose shrugged again.

"Did Dom really help you out?" Cynthia asked.

"You know she did." Rose replied.

"Then why mess with her?"

"Because it's fun." Rose smiled wickedly, a glint in her eye. Al face-palmed. "Oi..."

"What?" Al asked, playing dumb. Rose started mumbling under her breath. "Rude." Al continued, locking Rose into a loving grip. The Weasley squirmed to get out, but eventually relented, kissing him. Cynthia muttered something into James' ear.

"And _what _was that, may I ask, Cynthia?" Rose declared. Cynthia looked innocent.

"Just wondered how yours and Al's bond changed and you developed romantic feelings for each other, as all." the sixth-year replied. Rose's façade melted.

"I don't know how really it changed on my part. I guess in the middle of our third-year my hormones started to kick in, and Al was always there, by my side as a friend and cousin. My hormones thought 'Al is a great guy. Maybe...' and next thing you know, I developed a minor crush on him." the fourth-year girl smiled. Heat warmed Al's face. "You never knew that I was crushing on you?" Rose pondered. Al shook his head.

"I'll admit, I didn't know. During the third summer, you kept visiting more, and like you, my hormones kicked in. I knew you were a girl, of course, but only then did I see you more as 'Rose' than 'sweet little Rosie, my closest cousin'. Not that I don't anymore. I think of you as my beautiful girlfriend_ and _my sweetest cousin." Al finished. Rose's eyes misted over with emotion as she fought not to cry with joy.

"Well at least you're not as thick as my dad." she laughed.

"I know. He didn't even notice Aunt Hermione was a girl until their fourth-year." James said. Cynthia then preceeded to roll around on the floor laughing.

"Erm...?" asked Hugo, who had entered the void of hilarity a few seconds afterward. "Do I _dare_ ask?" he said, wondering what was going on. Cynthia laughed harder.

"I don't think you want to. She insulting where we came from." Rose mock-scowled.

"Oh." Hugo replied shortly. James gave Cynthia the Heimlich.

"If James drags you over to the Burrow this break, do_ not_, and I repeat, _not_, joke around about my parents' schooldays relationship." Rose declared.

"Yeah yeah..." Cynthia mused mockingly. Rose tapped her foot menacingly. "Eep."

"'Eep' indeed." Al supplied, noticing the look in Rose's eyes. Hugo nodded, agreeing. Soon enough, the train pulled into platform 9¾, Al and Rose pointedly looking away as James whispered something in Cynthia's ear and then kissed her full on the mouth before she went off to join her parents. When James sensed Al and Rose's diverted looks, he shot them a glance of his own. The related couple couldn't help but giggle. Lily and Hugo looked torn between laughing and fake-vomiting too.

"I assure you that I will murder you all." James uttered with fake malice.

"Oh no you won't, mister." Ginny ordered.

"But _mo-ther!_" James cried in an attempt at a pompous tone. "Albus Severus and Rose Portia are giggling like madmen!" he whined. Rose whistled innocently.

"Who, us?" Al asked, his bright-green eyes shining with mischief. "Never!"

"And James!" Rose declared. "I've_ always _been a good girl and abided rules!" James mouthed something, and Al had a sneaking suspicion what that something was.

Rose parted from Al with a very light kiss on the cheek so it looked 'cousinly' and followed Ron and Hermione home. Lily gave Al soothing words of comfort as she saw just how down he looked on the Potters' way home.

"Don't worry. You'll see her very soon. One perk of dating a family member." she whispered very low in Albus' ear. "What was it that James mouthed?"

"I'm not going to tell you out loud. Just come into my room when we get home, and I swear it'll be clear to you." Al mumbled, blushing. Lily got a look in her eye, grinning. Luckily, James couldn't hear them. Later on, Lily walked into Al's room when they got home. In Ginny's mind, now it was Christmas, despite the fact she hadn't heard Al's and Lily's recent conversation, Al's words from late August echoed in her head. She couldn't figure out why, but she got the feeling that those words were important.

"So? What's the deadly secret?" Lily pondered, her brown eyes questioning.

"Look at my neck, Lil. Seeing as you're only twelve, you're lucky I'm showing you."

"You're only fourteen." Lily bit back. Al sighed, knowing he'd been beat, and pulled his collar down, revealing his nape. It took Lily a second, but she clicked. "Is that what I think? _Albus Severus Potter_, is that a faded _hickey_?" she asked. Al blushed.

"Rose was going crazy." he mumbled. "And James knows about it." he continued.

"James mouthed about that, didn't he? " Lily asked, shaking her head, a very slight glint in her eye. Al nodded. Ginny's voice sounded for dinner.

"I wonder how Dom's getting on with her Head Girl duties." Ginny wondered.

"Oh she's getting on swimmingly. Putting down evil whenever she finds it." Al said.

"Well, you're the exception. She can't seem to put you down." Lily smirked.

"Marauder blood?" Harry asked. Green eyes met green, and Al laughed.

"What's this about Al being evil?" Ginny scolded. James, Al and Lily chuckled. "I'm worried now." Ginny mumbled. If all three laughed together, it meant something bad.

"Oh dear." Albus pretended to whimper. Lily held back a snort. Suddenly Teddy and Dom tumbled out of the fireplace.

"Hello?" Dom called. "Al, dearest?" she called again, a laugh in her voice.

"Teddy, entertain your cheerleader." Albus called, walking into the front room to face the couple. The look of utter confusion on their faces was priceless in his eyes.

"Cheerleader?" Teddy asked. Al grinned an evil grin of evilness.

"Of course. But in your case, you'd be excited not because of the pom-poms, but of because your precious Dom-Dom." he snickered. It was impossible to tell what contained more redness - Teddy's morphed hair, or Dom's cheeks. "Oh, awww!"

"You watch it, Potter." Dom said as Harry and Ginny came to see the visiting couple. "If we could let loose what we know-"

"You wouldn't!" Al protested, begging his cousin. Dom smiled, letting him off. "Phew."

"Is he up to no good?" Harry queried. Dom laughed.

"You could say that..." she trailed, letting Harry and Ginny's minds to run loose.

"But if I remember, you're commiting sins too, Dom." James laughed. "Isn't she?"

"Ah yes, she definitely is." Al smirked, high-fiving his brother.

"What sins?" Dom asked, curious about what plot the boys had hatched on her.

"You'll find out soon enough." Al said.

"How can you know things about me that I don't know about myself?"

"Hermione knew more about me than I did in first-year." Harry commented.

"Different situation, dear." Ginny chuckled. Teddy tickled Dom, who laughed.

"Rose was right. Teddinique for sure." Al snickered. Dom sent him a death-glare.

"Right! Teddy, we're leaving!" she commanded jokingly.

"Just as well, we want to spend quality time together. See you lot at the joke shop, no doubt." Teddy smiled, vanishing in a whirl of green. James was on the floor.

"That was epic, Al. You beat Dom at her own game!" he chortled. A few days before Christmas Eve, a fair few of the Weasley clan and their friends were running around the chaos that was Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. A notable occasion that occured was that Lysander got into danger. The silly boy had crashed into one of the aisles, and in his own unique way had swallowed a product.

"Your teeth!" Luna exclaimed, bending down to inspect her son.

"Boy, that's great stuff." Lysander mumbled, grinning.

"That's exploding candy for your enemies. Great idea, isn't it? Not ready yet, though. Too still weak though, needs more gelignite." George commented while running over to help Luna pull Lysander up. "I apologise for that, Luna." he said.

"No problem." Luna said, a grin on her face - she knew humour when she saw it.

"Exploding candy for your enemies, you say? Useful invention." Harry laughed. "Lee should have used _that_ on Umbridge instead of the Nifflers, had you come up with it then."

George let out a mighty chuckle. "It wasn't that funny." Harry protested.

"Harry m'boy, that was a genius thought." George disagreed, still laughing.

"You sounded like Slughorn just then." Harry grimaced. Soon enough, Al was tossing and turning in his sleep, wanting to see Rose the next day. _It'll be a shock when we announce we're together on New Year's Eve_ he thought. Al had wanted to tell the family on Christmas Day, but Rose put that idea down, wanting to keep them in the dark a little longer, and not spoil the festive day. _Rose's hugs are the best things I could get as a Christmas present_. Al thought dreamily as he finally drifted off.

"Rose dear can you get the door?" Molly Senior called as she heard a knock the following day, definitive it would be another branch of the Weasley clan.

"Sure." Rose replied, walking to the door to open it and not leave the visitors out in the cold. Of course, Rose also had a gut feeling who it was at the door. She smiled.

"Albie!" she beamed, throwing her arms round her favourite cousin. Ginny laughed.

"We know Al's your best friend in the world, but what about us, hmm?" she chided.

"Sorry Aunt Ginny." Rose smiled sheepishly, hugging her aunt and uncle. "Hey Jamie. Hi Lils." she chuckled, throwing an arm each around James and Lily.

"Let's walk into the land of the living, shall we?" Al chuckled. The Weasley Christmas offically kicked off with a lot of chaos and hullabaloo. Al and Rose kept sneaking secret glances at each other, each one looking away the second their eyes met. It was like they were smitten third-years. Dom noticed once, though. And yelled loudly.

"ROSE WEASLEY HAS BEEN CORRUPTED!" she bellowed. Ron's and Hermione's necks snapped lightning-fast.

"What?!" Hermione hissed. Dom put on her 'little angel' demanour.

"Nothing Aunt Hermione. Just a little joke." Dominique giggled. Rose's ears were burning, very fiercely. _Damn inheriting this pesky ear thing from Dad!_ she thought.

"Are you sure it's a joke, Dom?" Hermione wondered. Dom nodded. Rose let out a breath she half-knew she was holding. She stomped over to the present Head Girl.

"Dominique Grace? _A word?_" she demanded. Dom sighed and followed Rose.

"What's going on Rosie? I'm just fooling." the older girl said.

"You better be. I don't want the whole family to know before Al and I are ready to confess. And shouting 'Rose Weasley has been corrupted' makes it sound like... I've done the dirty deed." Rose trailed to a whisper, blushing. "At _fourteen_, Dom."

"Oh _Merlin_." Dom said, the reality hitting her over the head. "Oh Rose... I wasn't thinking. I_ promise _to you I won't joke anymore. And you're only a few months away from fifteen, right? Oh damn, that may not be a good point to make."

"No, it doesn't swing your argument." Rose replied, a hint of a smile on her face. Dom hugged Rose. "I forgive you." Rose mumbled, her face slanted sideways into her cousin's ponytail. "Now however hard you want to, do not flick that thing into my face." Rose continued to mumble, still blocked by some hair. Dom whined playfully. The Burrow was bustling again on New Year's Eve. Al randomly bumped into Rose in a secluded room this time after arriving.

"Hey lover." he smirked, kissing her nose. Rose lit up like a beacon. "You..."

"What about_ you? _Randomly making me blush like this with-"

"With my unchallenged vigour?" Al teased. Rose lovingly rubbed his neck. "Oh Rosie-Posie, my Rose-flower, acting lovey-dovey in our grandparents' house is-"

"Forbidden? Perhaps, but remember we're telling the whole family later." Rose whispered with a coy smile. Al's face went a variety of colours. First green from possible sickness, white from nervousness, and then red from embarassment.

"You looked like the Italian flag!" Rose giggled. Al rolled his eyes.

"Did I? Well the Italians are known for being suckers for romance." he pointed out.

"Save your love, my darling, save your lurrrve..." Rose hummed, a bit embarassed that she blurted out a corny Muggle song. Albus face-palmed, and hugged her.

"Enough with the Italian stereotype, and furthermore, we won't be saving ours. And by saving I mean hiding like it's some of sort of... now let me see if I can find the right words here..." Al trailed. Rose giggled at his speech and the look of concentration. "Ah, found them. Some sort of... unholy, sordid affair." Al said in a mock-posh voice. "Shush you. Close that trap so I can do this!" Rose demanded, feverishly kissing her cousin with all her might. Al purred something indistinguishable back. It was only when Albus tickled Rose's spine did she pull away. After the make-out session, the couple walked into the living room, catching James' eye. He gave a barely visible smirk. Albus nodded slightly. But the prankster spirit came alive in James just then.

"Right!" James hollered. Al tackled him, pinning him to the floor. Ginny ran in.

"What's going on? What scuffle have they gotten into this time, Rose?" she asked her niece. Rose smiled bashfully. "Come on, out with it." Ginny half-demanded.

"Aunt Ginny, I think it's best you cool down the party for a while and bring the family in." Rose replied, glancing at Al immediately afterwards, who straightened up. Soon every member of the tumultous Weasley clan was sitting down in the kitchen.

"Right, I'm glad we paused the party for a while." Al said, getting up. Rose smiled.

"What New Year's Resolution are you telling us early, Al?" Harry half-laughed.

"Well... your resolution has to be not to get mad Dad." Al replied uneasily. "Rose-flower, want to help me out here?" he grinned. Dom caught on what they were doing, and true to her word at Christmas, gave them a helpful question to be sure.

"Al, are you-"

"Yes, Dom." Al responded as Rose walked over to him, smiling her head off.

"What's going on?" Hermione and Ginny asked together. Dom gave a helpful grin.

"Everybody, both Rose and I have found significant others each year." Al said, a lump in his throat. All the adults clapped, unaware of the bombshell that would drop.

"And... the thing is... er..." Rose stammered. Al rubbed her back encouragingly. "Well, we're the other's sweetheart. Me and Albus are an item." Rose said timidly. You could have heard a pin drop. Everybody was silent. Shock washed over them.

"What -_ the_ - _HELL_." Harry hissed. Al looked at his father, green meeting green again in a pleading gesture. "Albus, Rose, a word in the living room,_ now_. Hermione, close the door." Harry continued to hiss - you have thought he was speaking Parseltongue, but you could tell he had taken Al's pleading on board. Ginny and Hermione had gotten angry too, and now the redhead was dragging Al, the brunette dragging Rose, straight into the living room for what promised to be a very heated discussion. Within a minute, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were facing a guilty-faced Al and Rose. Ginny was the first to speak.

"What the hell is going on, Albus? You just said you'd found a significant other."

"That's right Mum. And it's Rose. I'm glad to be dating her." Al replied, kissing Rose.

"OK..." Hermione trailed, shocked at the sight of her nephew and her daughter kissing in a clearly romantic way. "I can't agree to this, it's illegal." Al's face dropped.

"But Aunt Hermione, I love her!"

"The 'I love her' stuff just furthers your aunt's side of things." Harry growled. "You're cousins. Cousins shouldn't hook up, it's immoral."

"But-"

"Save it Rose." Ron proclaimed, speaking for the first time. "You're going to _end it_."

"Why are they making such a big deal?" Al muttered.

"I don't know." Rose half-grinned, pulling him closer lovingly. Ginny turned white.

"Drop the bombshell, then." Al smirked. Hermione turned white then as well.

"Another one?" the bushy-haired woman choked out. "As well as _this?_"

"I won't stand for this, you hear me?" Ron hissed.

"Too right Ron." Harry continued.

"But Uncle Harry-" Rose began to sputter.

"Whatever you've got to say won't help, Rose." Harry said moodily.

"Your paternal grandmother was a Black before marriage." she rushed out. It took a moment for the penny to drop, but when recognition crossed Harry's face, he froze. Then he let loose a hideous string of foul expletives.

"-damn!" he finished. Despite the air being turned blue, Al and Rose were smiling.

"I don't get it." Hermione coughed, shocked by Harry's unholy curse words.

"With my paternal grandmother being a Black, it means I'm related in blood to the Weasleys." Harry said, still shaky. Ginny's jaw dropped.

Al had a 'ha-ha' expression on his face, and he high-fived Rose in another cuddle.

"Well now you're well and truly part of the family, mate!" Ron grinned, pleased.

"Ron? It means I'm related to my wife." Harry countered. "Out of curiousity, how..."

"Third-cousins. You're both great-great-grandchildren of Phineas Nigellus." Rose said, looking Harry and Ginny straight in the eye, both who looked ready to be sick.

"See? How can you penalise me for dating my cousin when I was born out of an incestual union?" Albus pointed out. Hermione shook herself out of her reverie.

"Who revealed all of the family tree and worked it out for you?"

"Cynthia Goldstein did." Rose said.

"Merlin, the look on James' face when we told him about the third-cousins thing. Or come to think of it, his reaction to us being together." Al mused. Ginny inhaled.

"James knows about you two? Well I suppose that means that Hugo and Lily-"

"They know too, Aunt Gin." Rose half-smiled. "James called Al 'twisted' at first."

"I can't blame him." Ron said, glaring daggers at Al.

"I guess I can come to terms with it." Hermione sighed, half-smiling. Rose hugged her mother, gratitude flooding through her, seeing her mum could be open-minded.

"Because of the pure-blood intermarrying, we can't really blame Al." Harry sighed, finally calming down. A light-bulb suddenly went off in Hermione's complex brain.

"It all of a sudden occurs to me that I see a pattern." she said. Rose smiled.

"You could be right, Mum. If your thoughts are correct, I saw that pattern too."

"Harry married Ginny, who shares his mother's hair colour, and now..."

"Oh no." Ginny moaned, holding her head in her hands. Harry then got a lightbulb.

"I think I heard about something like that... called the Oedipus complex, right?"

"That's right. And seeing as Al's had issues with your fame in the past, Uncle Harry, he's a classic case." Rose almost laughed. "And because of Aunt Ginny, you had mild traits in your teenage years."

"You know what, Rose? Looking at it in a new open-minded light, you two do look kind of good together." Ginny said.

"Thanks. You're nearly echoing what James said once he calmed down." Rose said.

"Who can we trust more to take care of our Rosie than her own cousin?" Hermione asked, ruffling Al's hair. Ron gave a half-hearted smile. "We support it." the adults chorused. Rose leapt into Al's arms, and he swung her around before kissing her.

**AN: Sorry to some readers who may be peeved with my near-enough-skipping from Christmas to New Year's Eve in a flash, but I wanted to write Al and Rose's unveiling sooo bad! Did that scene at the end with the Golden Trio and Ginny have just the right mix of emotions as I'd envisioned? Because it was the bit I'd had planned in my head most as far as writing this whole chapter was concerned. And Al and Rose weren't asking for permission to date, they were just calming the adults down. I took advantage of Harry's temper, right? As for Ron's limited part... I don't think I write him well enough when I do so, and he's not my favourite of the Golden Trio anyway.**


	8. He Is Currently Indisposed

**He Is... Currently Indisposed**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. I've discovered I made some continuity mistakes in previous chapters, so I've fixed them. Enjoy chapter eight with highlights of a truth or dare game and a relatively deep scene between James and Lily. **

"James, I did the inevitable, and told our parents, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione about me and Rose." Al said as the Hogwarts Express rolled across the green hills.

"And? Did they hex you from one end of the room to the other?" James asked, raising his eyebrows - Al hadn't told him about the New Year's Eve incident.

"No. But they were not happy in the slightest. Thank Merlin Rosie told our parents about them being related. And then I chipped in and said, and I quote, 'How can you penalise me for dating my cousin when I was born out of an incestual union?'."

"Ah. I should reward Cynthia for that." James half-smirked. Al pulled a face.

"I'm not the one getting hickeys from my cousin, am I?" James grinned devillishly. Al's face couldn't have been more red. Katherine Macmillan popped her head through the carriage door.

"Hmmm." she mused, grinning. "Hello you two." she said, a glint in her eye.

"Oh no. We're in trouble, aren't we?" Al asked. Katherine smiled lightly.

"Well I heard whispers on the grapevine from a fellow 'Claw. And said rumours concern me. I wonder if you two specifically could clean them up?" she said sweetly.

"I think I have a feeling who told you those rumours." Al said. Katherine nodded.

"Your feeling is right. James, what were you_ thinking? _Cynthia told me that-"

"Katherine, if Cynthia told you about what I said about you and Al, I was joking. I swear." James pleaded. Katherine looked at him, her mind thinking it through.

"Good. Al, you're a great guy, and we have fun, but I'm not interested in you."

"Ha. So the ink blots are just you being playful like a friend?" Al laughed. Katherine nodded. "Good. Because I'm taken." he smiled, a shine in his green eyes.

"You kept_ that _quiet!" Katherine gasped in surprise. Rose opened the door.

"Hey James. Hey Albie." she beamed, sitting in Al's lap and kissing him fiercely.

"Oh." Katherine mused in a mixture of pure shock and confusion. Rose's neck nearly snapped around at the voice. "Definitely taken from the looks of things Al."

"I bottled my feelings for him for a year before we got together, Katherine, and_ he _asked me." Rose commented before refocusing her attention on her cousin's lips.

"And I've been tasting these luscious lips for eighteen weeks tomorrow." Al smiled.

"Since the_ start _of the_ year_?" the Ravenclaw girl gasped, doing the maths mentally. "How the hell did no-one catch you? Probable shock issues aside. I don't judge."

"It was tough, but at the same time keeping the relationship hidden was fun. Rosie!"

Al laughed at the end of the speech - Rose was caressing his neck fondly.

"We planned our multiple rendezvous sometimes, because there was a threat of getting caught. Then again, sometimes we'd just wing it when it just happened to be us in the room or in the corridor, and have a moment." Rose half-murmured, still caressing Albus. Al's muscles relaxed, and with that, Rose put her arm around him as he leaned in to kiss her. James silently prayed to Merlin. Katherine whacked him.

"Hey, what's wrong with praying to Merlin?" he blundered. Katherine rolled her eyes.

"You can't get past the issue, can't you? I can, and this is the first I'm hearing of it. Cousins or not, Al and Rose are fab." she huffed at the boy two years her senior.

"Thanks!" the couple chorused. Hugo then walked in.

"What's going on?" he asked. _Clueless_ Rose thought. She sighed heavily.

"Jamie-dear is causing trouble. Like always. Remember Hallowe'en?"

"McGonagall wasn't happy." Hugo chuckled, remembering.

"Indeed. Neither was I when you flung those innards, James." Al mock-scowled.

"Sticking up for Rose in_ that _way, were you? I see that now, Al." James smirked back. Al smiled bashfully, turning pink. Rose started to get a fit of the giggles.

"And you said_ I'm _the easily embarassed one in this relationship!" she laughed.

"Shush you! I protest!" Al fake-pouted. Rose made her eyes do a fake swell-up.

"Oh look Al, she's doing the innocent doe-eyes. How can you fight_ that_?" Katherine teased. Al gave her a look that clearly said 'get out you sneak'. "Very well."

"Why is it that when you end up happy with someone, once you tell, everyone teases you?" Al huffed. James rolled his brown eyes he'd inherited from Ginny.

"Way of the relationship world, little bro." he chuckled.

"Remind to me be wary if I find someone." Hugo mused. Rose smiled knowingly.

"No-one teased you when you first got with Cynthia." Al pointed out. James grinned.

"Cynth and I are a special case." he smiled. Rose kicked him. "Oi! Rose!"

"That's for insinuating that you and Cynthia are cuter and Al and me." Rose said.

"Ugh!" Hugo griped, at the same time that James moaned 'Women!'

"Don't start_ that _game, Rose." James pleaded. Rose donned an innocent look.

"Aww, don't listen to him Roseflower, I think it's sweet. I think we're really cute too - that's not arrogance or anything, it's that you're so amazing so you make us cute." Al's speech was followed by many fake-vomiting noises.

After all the hullabaloo of getting off the train, the students were back in the Great Hall. The Potter siblings and Rose got friendly waves from other tables - Katherine, Lorcan and Lysander beamed from the 'Claw table, Dom and Annie grinned from the Hufflepuff table, and even Scorpius Malfoy gave Albus a friendly half-smirk from the snake table. Lily, of course, got a bit iffy when the Scamanders waved, looking Lysander straight in the face. For this, James later whacked Lily lightly on the head.

"Oh don't be cruel." Albus said, defending his little sister.

"Thank you Al." Lily smiled, snuggling into his side. Al looked comically annoyed.

"Lil, you're not five anymore, you can't lean into my side like you used to during thunderstorms." he said with the vaguest hint of a smile. Lily's face matched her hair.

"I-I thought y-you'd f-f-forgotten about th-that." she stuttered.

"No chance Lil." Al smiled. Lily gave him half a glare, but ended up smiling.

"Hugo claimed he was 'brave enough' to handle thunderstorms and didn't need the comfort of an older sibling to see him through." Rose commented.

"Well I _was!_" Hugo boasted. Rose blew a quiet raspberry. Al beamed at her.

"You're adorable, Roseflower." he whispered into her ear. Rose turned a mild pink.

"Albus and Rosie, sitting in a tree..." Lily hummed. Rose gave her younger cousin a look. Lily went all innocent, then donned a questioning expression and clasped her hands together hopefully. Rose raised her eyebrow.

"_Bridesmaid?_" Lily mouthed, pointing to herself, bearly concealing her potiental glee. Rose nodded, smiling. "Yay!" Lily beamed, rocking her hips back and forth and drumming her fingers on the table in a happy dance.

"Wha-?" James, Albus and Hugo chorused. Rose and Lily smirked. Al clicked.

"Girl stuff." he said. Rose grinned and Lily beamed. "Must be something big."

"Why would it be big, oh dear brother?" Lily queried comically.

"Your crazily happy dance, that's _why_." Al said. "Mistake if you want to keep it quiet."

"Women!" James sighed - but he didn't know was that his other half was now there.

"_Hey!_" Rose, Lily and Cynthia chorused, the latter shaking James' shoulder.

"I didn't mean it." James mumbled, hearing Cynthia's voice. "It's just Rose and Lily-"

"Rose and Lily _what_, may I ask?" Cynthia queried. Lily gestured with her hand, and Cynthia bent down, smiling sneakily at Rose when Lily had stopped whispering, the younger redhead's face alight with happiness. Rose smiled sheepishly.

"How women's minds work, I'll never know." James laughed.

"Well bro, if you don't know, we'll never figure it out." Al chuckled, pointing to himself and Hugo. "I take it the road to understanding the female brain turns you black and blue with confusion and probable injury." he chuckled some more.

"Haha, Al. Very funny." Megan Finch-Fletchley said, randomly passing the lion table.

"That wasn't a nod to your hair." Al smiled. James shook his head.

"Hi Megan. Yeah, we were just saying how trying to understand the female brain turns you black and blue." the elder Potter said. "Unfortunately, seeing as poor Hugo is the youngest guy here, he has a lot to learn." James finished in mock-concern. Hugo let out a strangled noise. Rose patted him on the shoulder.

"You'll learn." she said comfortingly, laughter lacing her tone very slightly. Megan looked puzzled. "Then you'll realise why Lily and I were smirking."

"What in the name of humanity is going on?" Megan queried.

"My family are nutters." Al said.

"Hey!" James, Rose, Lily and Hugo chorused. Cynthia laughed.

"What are you smirking at?" James asked.

"Nothing." Cynthia answered back innocently. Al and Rose rolled their eyes.

"I suppose they are nutters." Megan shrugged.

"Be thankful you only have to cope with Al and Rose on a regular basis." James chuckled. This comment earned him death glares. Megan smiled slightly.

"I pity you for having to deal with my loopy sister." Hugo mumbled.

"Oi!" Rose scolded. Hugo seemed to shrink a little. "Watch it, mister."

"Oh Rose, cut the poor bloke a break." Megan said sympathetically.

"Thanks!" Hugo smiled, sticking his tongue out at Rose, who huffed.

"Aha." Al clicked. Megan looked at him questioningly. "It's just I realised you also have to cope with Dominique sometimes too because she's in your house."

"Oooooh..." James, Rose, Lily and Hugo chorused again.

"Hardy-har. See you guys." Megan smiled, walking away. Hugo was fixated on the blue highlights. James couldn't possibly stand it any more.

"Could somebody_ please _snap him out of it?!" he demanded.

"Hugo? Earth to Hugo?" Rose called gently, clicking her fingers.

"He is... currently indisposed." Lily chuckled. That brought Hugo out of his reverie.

"Sorry about that." Hugo mumbled, blushing lightly. Lily's evil grin split her face.

"Oh Hugo dear..." Rose sighed sympathetically, patting his hand.

"I think I'll leave you nutters to yourselves." Cynthia beamed, pecking James on the cheek and leaving the Gryffindor table. "And don't think I don't know that you'll comically badmouth me behind my back!" she laughed. James looked stunned.

"How does she do that?!" he queried. Rose smiled, biting back a laugh.

"You've been together for eight months." Al grinned. "And had ups and downs."

"Our fights aren't big." James mumbled, miffed his relationship was under scope.

"That shows you're growing up." Lily beamed. James gave his sister a look.

"Like you can preach maturity." he mocked. Lily blew a raspberry. "Point proven."

"Hey!" Lily huffed. Al mumbled something and Rose giggled.

"Can we act like_ civilised _people now please?" Al repeated, earning another giggle.

"Oh that was uncalled for!" James and Lily shouted. Rose burst into hysterics.

"You do almost everything to make Rosie-dear laugh, don't you?" Lily pondered. Al blushed. "Aha! I'm right!" Lily continued smugly. Al smiled sheepishly. Rose grinned.

"Don't listen to her, Albie." the older redhead smiled lovingly.

"Sweet Merlin above!" James cried. Al cast a hex at him. "Aaah!" James croaked, clearly trying to scream his brother's name under the influence of Langlock.

"I think we are going to have to calm James about this." Lily declared, gesturing to Al and Rose, who beamed in unison. Hugo slowly nodded. Lily got a look in her eyes.

"Oh I know_ that _look. Yes, Roseflower and I are cute-" Al started, ignoring Rose's blush at the pet nickname "-but there's no need to keep bringing the point up."

"Honestly. Women!" Hugo half-laughed. "Always emotional."

"When you find someone you'll appreciate the emotional talk. Maybe." Rose said.

"Oi! Enough of your cheek!" Hugo pouted. Rose made a childish sound.

"I'd love to listen to the banter, but I need a walk and some fresh air. Want to come with me, Rosie?" Al asked, a sweet, loving look in his eyes. Rose melted.

"Sure Albie." she beamed, hopping off the table and linking his arm.

"Honestly..." James sighed, a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. Lily grinned.

"You_ do _think that they're cute together." she smirked. James shrugged slowly.

"In a way. Once you get past the 'cousins' thing they are quite the couple."

"And please tell me you've gotten past it." Lily said, giving her brother a fierce look.

"Pretty much. I believe that Al said to Mum and Dad, oh what was it - 'how can you penalise me for dating my cousin when I was born out of an incestual union?'. So I don't penalise him for it, either. Plus he and Rosie were joined at the hip anyway." James said. Lily smiled - thinking back, Albus and Rose had always been close.

"Mm-hm. You know, I can't picture Rose ending up with anyone else but Al, and vice versa. They're too written in the stars." Lily mused, a sentimental look on her face.

"Lils..." James sighed comically, nudging her. "If Al ever gets wind of this-"

"Yeah yeah, he'll give me fierce pay-back. I get it." Lily said, sighing. The next couple of weeks passed without much event, but on Saturday 18th Cynthia bumped into the Potter siblings and spouted an idea. A very unusually Gryffindor-esque idea.

"So let me get this straight." James said slowly. "Your friend Nicholas Kirke suggested to you that you bring an almighty_ army_-"

"He never said 'an almighty army'." Cynthia half-chuckled. "But yes, he said he wants to host an inter-house truth or dare. And I thought I'd use my connections."

"Hang on." James said, a thought striking him. "Are you sure that this isn't a way to-"

"James, Nicholas is a year younger than me. And we're just friends." Cynthia said.

"OK, but if on one of the dares he-"

"Oh for CRYING OUT _LOUD!_" Albus and Lily bellowed in unison.

"James, there's no need to get insecure. I love you." Cynthia proclaimed soothingly. "Plus it won't be a spin-the-bottle-type truth or dare." she continued, leaning in.

"I hear the bells." Al laughed. James gave him an intense death glare. Lily chuckled.

"Albus, go and snog Rose or something, and Lily, tell Lysander you like him. I don't care. Just leave me and Cynth alone for the love for Merlin!" James hissed.

"I'm only twelve!" Lily squeaked, turning red. Al had also gone mildly pink.

"Ah, young love..." Cynthia laughed. "These two have fallen prey."

"We have not!" Al and Lily chorused, but then distinctive ginger and dirty-blonde hair seemed to catch their eyes. Cynthia nodded slowly in an 'mm-hm' manner.

"Rosie!" Al called. Rose turned around and beamed, running into Al's arms.

"Whoa, Albus. Missing your best friend?" Lysander chuckled. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Shove off 'Sander. He's not the only one." she laughed, nudging Lysander.

"OK, Miss Potter, you're on." the blonde boy smiled. "You're it!" he called and ran off.

"Lysander! You get back here!" Lily, bolting after him.

"Five Galleons." James smirked, looking at the pair's speedily retreating backs.

"When?" Cynthia asked. "Hang on, don't tell me... Summer after their third year."

"Lily's too nervous. She'll want Lysander to open up first to prove himself. And I can tell he feels close to her. So I'd say... Easter of their fourth." Rose retaliated. "Al?"

"Oh, tricky. But I'm going to have agree with you Rosie." Al smiled. "James?"

"Betting on our sister's love life was _my_ idea, Albus! Nevertheless, I'd say Summer after their third. I think something in Lils will snap and she'll ask Lysander first."

"Right then!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Me and James say Summer after the next, and you and Rose say in two Easters time." James shook Rose's hand and Cynthia shook Al's. "It is _so_ on." Cynthia said snarkily, but ended up laughing.

"You can never keep a straight face." James laughed.

"I'm in a relationship with you, aren't I?" Cynthia joked back. Rose fake-vomited. "Oi! Rude, not to mention_ totally _uncalled for!" the blonde girl huffed.

"Oh be quiet." Rose chuckled, snuggling into Al, who beamed and kissed her.

"I love you." he smiled, tickling her underneath the chin. Rose smiled bashfully.

"Awww..." James and Cynthia trailed in unison, genuine looks of care on both faces.

"A little privacy, please?" Albus and Rose chorused. James snorted heavily.

"This is Hogwarts." he scoffed. Realisation dawned on Al's and Rose's faces. James and Cynthia walked away laughing, being considerate to their request. In fact, the sixth-years were off to the kitchens - only a surprise guest stopped them.

"Have you persuaded people, Cynthia?" Nicholas Kirke asked. James tensed.

"I have, Nicholas. And James will you please calm down?" Cynthia asked.

"What's wrong with him?" Nicholas pondered. Cynthia rolled her eyes and sighed.

"He thinks that you_ want _me." she deadpanned, putting emphasis on 'want'.

"Oh _dear!_" Nicholas chuckled. "James, I assure you Cynthia is just my friend."

"So there's no need to get insecure and tense." Cynthia said.

"Hark who's talking!" James laughed. "Remember the incident with Annie?"

"Annie Longbottom?" Nicholas pondered curiously. Cynthia nodded guiltily.

"I guess I can't blame James." she said as James stuck his tongue out.

"So anyway, guide all the non-Hufflepuffs down here at eight, won't you?"

"We will." James replied, a flicker of a smile on his face as Cynthia waved at Nicholas because she was walking to the kitchens.

Soon enough the following fourteen people were in the Hufflepuff common room - the three Potter siblings, Rose, Hugo, Dominique, Scorpius, the Scamander twins, Cynthia, Katherine Macmillan, Annie Longbottom, Megan Finch-Fletchley and Nicholas Kirke. James, Albus and Lily had a shared glint in their eyes.

"Right. If anyone wants to back out, say so now." Nicholas said. No-one moved. "Good. Sooo... who wants to start this frantic truth-or-dare?"

"I will." James declared. There was a collective 'oooooh'. "Pffft!" he scoffed.

"Alrighty, James. I dare you to streak around the Great Hall." Scorpius said.

"Done! Cynth, my lovely, come with me." James grinned evilly.

"Why me? Oh of course..." Cynthia queried then it hit her. They walked out.

"Okay, that'll scar us..." Megan chuckled. "Albus, I have a risky dare for you."

"How risky, dare I ask, lovely Megan?" Al retorted in a cocky manner.

"Kiss Rose." she proclaimed, thinking the order was something foul.

"Now Megan, when you say-" Scorpius started, but he was cut off.

"Oh no Scorpius, not just a peck. A full kiss." Megan replied. James, Lily and Dominique especially played their poker faces. Annie's eyes shone though.

Rose leaned in and pecked Al's lips. He responded with more force - both could feel the other grin in the kiss. Al pulled back after five seconds and Rose half-smiled.

"Done and done." Al smiled. Megan's mouth twitched. After a lot of other dares - including Katherine giving Hugo a wedgie, Lorcan singing 'God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs' in a high-pitched voice, and Nicholas doing his best impression of McGonagall - tensions were running high and excitement was in the air.

"Hugo dearie." Dominique said, as James let out a belch from drinking his third Butterbeer - how he smuggled it in people did not want to know. "Here's a dare."

"Dommie, not even you, the Head Girl, can bring me down." Hugo boasted.

"Kiss Megan on the cheek." the Head Girl smiled evilly. Hugo blushed beet red.

"Be thankful Dom didn't ask him to go for the lips." Al mumbled as Rose nodded.

"Oh, OK..." Hugo trailed, fighting back a stammer in his voice. He smiled.

"Come on, Hugo. What's wrong?" Megan asked, parts clicking in her head. Hugo waltzed over. Megan's mouth twitched. He sat down, swallowed the feeling in his throat and pecked her. Mild wolf-whistles came from James and Lorcan. Pulling back after a second, Hugo smiled loosely, still having colour in his face.

"Well Hugo, that was nice." Megan grinned appreciatively. Rose looked at her brother, who had an unreadable expression on his face. She sent him a 'we'll talk later' look, to which he nodded stiffly. Soon enough everyone was tired, and in the non-badgers' cases, to go back to their common rooms. Al stopped for a second.

"Hey Dom?" he asked. His part-Veela cousin turned to face him.

"Yes Al?" she replied, grateful that the common room was near enough empty.

"How come you dared Hugo to kiss Megan but didn't dare Lily to peck Lysander?"

"Lily's a bit more Gryffindor deep down inside." Dom said. Al laughed.

"That's so funny, because James and Cynthia think that Lily will open up the Summer after the next. Me and Rose, however, think Lysander will realise he feels super-close to Lily and take the plunge in two Easters time."

"Oooooh, a _wager? _I'm in!" Dom exclaimed, clapping.

"In that case we'll have to up the stakes a Galleon to make a clear cut." Al said.

"I think..." Dom paused. "...I'll have to side with James and Cynthia. I stand by what I just said. At least we can see Lily and Lysander coming." she half-laughed.

"And no-one saw me falling utterly in love with Rose. I get it." Al half-laughed back.

**AN: I think this is one of the best chapters yet. I know in my head who will win the bet, and it will be revealed eventually once the story moves in its intended way. I couldn't help but drop little hints about some aspects, though. Hell, I already have parts of the ultimate ending done in my head. **


	9. Insolence, That's What

**Insolence, That's What**

**Author Note:**** Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. Some moderate canon characters make appearances here, and personally I didn't think they'd cross my mind. Plus there are flashes of drama with a minor fight between Al and Rose, which looks serious at first when you read it, but never fear, those two have their usual fluffy scenes.**

"Why I agreed to this, I don't know." Albus muttered, shivering in the January cold.

"Because you respect Hagrid?" James said. Albus nodded. "Oi!" James exclaimed, feeling something. Titters sounded, followed by giggling. The guys looked over.

"Girl power!" Lily exclaimed across the grounds - she'd just chucked a snowball.

"RIGHT!" James bellowed, thundering towards her. Al stayed by the pumpkin patch.

"Gaah!" Lily screamed, her eyes widening. She crouched with her tiny frame at the last second, so James' snowball ended up hitting Rose. Rose's face darkened. James gulped. Rose gathered up several snowballs and hurled them fast.

"HELP ME!" James shrieked in fear. Al was bent double in laughter, his eyes meeting Rose's. Rose nodded. Albus gathered up a snowball, and Rose levitated it with her wand. She magicked it towards James, then at the last second, changed its course - and hit Al in the stomach. James raised an eyebrow at Rose giggling.

"You are so dead." Al smiled, getting back up to a standing position. A flicker of uncertainity wavered in Rose's eyes before she ran away. James and Lily laughed. Quick as a flash, Rose was pinned down by Al, who was tickling her mercilessly.

"Merlin you're strong." Rose half-laughed - Al didn't play Quidditch, but he'd still inherited muscles from Harry and Ginny.

The middle Potter child flashed her a smile, then suddenly let her go. But as soon as Rose was standing again, her other half played another trick on her. He picked her up and twirled her around. "Albus Severus Potter! Put me _down!_" Rose squealed.

"Merlin I'm strong..." Al scoffed. He put Rose down and looked her in the eye. "Merlin, you're_ light_." he smiled, not believing it. "I didn't realise how light you are."

"Hugo inherited my dad's eating habits." Rose chuckled.

"We all know that." Al grinned. "Your super-fast metabolism, however, works wonders for you, Roseflower. Have you ever thought about trying out for Seeker? You've got the petite build for it." he smiled sweetly. Rose turned a trace of pink.

"Awww." cooed Lily. "You two..." she continued.

"While I enjoy this..." James coughed - Al, Rose and Lily gave him slight glares - "...I think we should go to Hagrid's." he finished. Soon they were in the half-giant's cabin.

"So what brings yer four ter my neck o' the woods?" Hagrid pondered.

"Just wanted to visit." Al said. James snorted. Rose whacked the brown-eyed boy.

"What was that all abou'?" Hagrid asked. Rose shook her head imploringly.

"James is implying that I didn't want to come." Al said, glaring at his brother.

"Hello?! You wanted to fire frozen ammunition with Rose and Lily!" James pouted.

"Meaning?" Hagrid queried, quite befuddled. Rose and Lily chuckled.

"Meaning snowballs." the girls chorused. James looked close to throwing a hissy-fit.

"Rose- evil little- Lily- demon of the... gaaah!" he spluttered in anger. Al couldn't help himself. He exploded with laughter, very hard. After a minute, Rose's concern grew.

"Albie?" she asked with worry. "Are you OK?" Al's laughing subsided to hiccups.

"Fine - hic - Rosie. James' hissy-fit was - hic - hilarious! That's - hic - all!" he snickered. James gave him the evil eye.

"Lily, do yer intend on takin' Care of Magical Creatures next year?" Hagrid asked.

"I do indeed." Lily smiled warmly. "I plan on getting an O in the OWL exam as well."

"Not an 'O' in Herbology, then?" Rose snickered. "Flower expertise... lilies..."

"Oh _shut_ up." Lily responded, cracking a grin. Hagrid chuckled too.

"Rose, I will bet yeh eight Sickles that Lily gets an 'O' in both Magical Creatures _an' _Herbology at the end of her fifth-year." he said in his gruff voice. Rose smiled.

"We'll see, Hagrid. We'll see." she said. She gave James and Albus secretive looks.

"What's with the looks? And more importantly-" Lily was cut off by Al chuckling and mouthing something to Rose "-do you _doubt _my intellegence?"

"N to the O." Rose replied. James snickered hugely. Lily huffed.

"How P to the A to the T to the R... oh sod it! How patronising!" she exclaimed. James and Al were on the floor, sobbing with laughter. Lily grabbed two of Hagrid's signature rock-cakes, and knew what she intended to do with them.

"May I?" she asked the grey-haired gamekeeper. He gave her a thumbs-up. The rock-cakes became missiles on impact, signature Lily Luna-style.

"MERLIN!" the Potter boys shrieked in pain, the one intended for James hitting him in the head, and the one intended for Al going for his pelvis.

"Those things are hard!" Al declared. "And it hit me near the jewels!"

"Lily..." Rose trailed, giving her younger cousin a hard look. Lily's face crumpled.

"Sowwy." she squeaked. Al glared at her.

"Be thankful James and Cynthia could've continued the Potter line." he hissed.

"Who says we won't?" James pondered. Hagrid's eyebrows raised.

"Is the rambunctious James Sirius thinkin' of settlin' down?" he asked.

"I've never wanted something rational, but knows?" James responded.

"I think we might have to talk about this, Jamie." Albus and Rose said together.

All James did was retaliate with a cocky smile. Lily suddenly had a light-bulb idea.

"The ball might stop rolling - Cynthia is a Ravenclaw, and it's your sixth-year. NEWT time, remember. Less time for mischief-making." she said with a straight face. Al and Rose had no idea in Merlin how she kept a straight face, but the youngest Potter did.

"Me? Turn_ down _the opportunity for mischief-making? Never, Lils! Helloooo? This is _me_ we're talking about!" James pouted. Lily shrugged in resignation.

"Yeh're just like yer grandfather an' his friends, James. And yer uncles the Weasley twins. Merlin help us, you're the spirits probab'y combined I 'spect." Hagrid chuckled. Rose clutched her hands to her face and mimed screaming.

"Rosie, you look like that famous Muggle painting." Al snickered.

"The Scream? Yes, my mum showed me it, and it's struck a chord with me. Being plagued within a family of horrors." Rose replied. James', Al's and Lily's faces were priceless. "I kid. I love you all, and you know it." the Weasley child smiled.

"Awww." her cousins grinned, enveloping her in a group hug. They would need the warmth from that, however, a few weeks later in Herbology on February 6th.

"Bubotuber pus. Honestly." Rose shuddered. Neville overheard her, though.

"Yes Rose. Bubotuber pus again, and as Professor Sprout said when I did this task in _my_ fourth year, it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. Wear your dragon-hide gloves - it can do funny things to your skin, Bubotuber pus." he explained.

"Oh joy." Megan Finch-Fletchley mumbled. Neville fought a grim smile.

"Al, don't be a senseless troublemaker and put your gloves on." Rose said. "I don't want to have to carry you to the Hospital Wing." she complained, doing her eye-trick.

"Yes ma'am." Al responded, giving in. Rose smiled. But there _was _an incident.

"Ahhh!" Annie shrieked, her body shivering in pain. Al had a questioning look.

"Oh, a slight puncture in your gloves. Nothing really to worry about._ Episkey_." Neville said, his eyes slightly tense when he did the spell. The rest of the day passed without much notable events. The next morning, however, was different as soon as the owls flew in with the mail. A happy shriek sounded from the Ravenclaw table.

"I can't believe it!" Cynthia Goldstein beamed. She was at the lion table in seconds.

"What's up, Cynth?" James pried, seeing the letter in her hand. She beamed wider, handing him it. "You are cordially invited to the wedding of Mr. George Goldstein and Miss Elizabeth Coote on April 20th, 2020." the eldest Potter read with a smile.

"George... black hair, shares your eyes, a couple of years older than you?" Rose asked. Cynthia nodded vigourously - her closest family member was getting hitched!

"Mm-hm. He and Elizabeth have always been a great couple anyway, but this is happy news I don't think anyone was expecting. Plus I have a gut feeling that Elizabeth will make me a bridesmaid - she's always liked me." she smiled.

"I feel an extra advantage coming on." James smirked. Al and Rose face-palmed.

"He means about how 'wonderful' you'll look in that bridesmaid dress no doubt, Cynthia." Al half-groaned amusedly. James gave him a glare. "What?"

"Rose, I hope you're good at protecting him."

"Why?" Rose asked, but then it dawned on her. "Oh James, don't do anything ra-"

"Langlock!" James exclaimed.

"Protego!" Rose fired. James ended up on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Al saw Neville raise an eyebrow but stay silent. Although Al could have sworn he saw the Herbology expert mouth 'Weasleys and Potters... are better left alone'. And that set the middle Potter child off into uncontrollable hysterics. Lily gave him a look.

"What Neville mouthed at us when he saw James on the floor." Al explained.

"Which was? C'mon, out with it. What did he mouth?" James asked. Al smiled.

"Weasleys and Potters are better left alone. I think he was considering giving you a talking-to, Roseflower." he said, pulling Rose close to him. Katherine Macmillan happened to pass them at that moment, but didn't say anything. Rose perked up.

"Only a week until Valentine's Day!" she suddenly beamed. Lily beamed also.

"Blooming romantics." James mumbled. Al sighed - his brother had no soul.

"Blooming flowers, more like. _Orchideous!_" Al cast. Rose's smile split her face when her other half handed her the roses. Cliché though it seem, roses were Rose's favourite flower. But unfortunately for James, this sweet gesture made Cynthia mad.

"James Sirius_ Potter_, how come_ I _never get such affectionate trinkets? Hmmm?!"

"I'm not sure you ever told me your favourite flower." James said defensively.

"Unh! It's pot marigolds." Cynthia sighed, rolling her eyes. James rose his hands.

"Alright, I surrender. I'll make a mental note it's pot marigolds. Only 'cause Al's known Rose forever, he knows best." Lily snorted at that, then snorted some more.

"And before anyone says, my favourite flower is the forget-me-not." she quipped.

"Not the lily?" James said innocently. Lily lunged, determined to squash him.

"Miss Potter?" Neville's calming voice emerged. Lily froze. "No violence."

"Neville, my_ man! _How are things in the greenhouse?!" James exclaimed, trying to give Neville the Muggle 'respect' gesture, something he'd learned from George.

"A well-efficient thirty points from Gryffindor for punching a member of staff, Mr. Potter." Neville said authoritively, but a smirk was threatening to break on his face. "For what?!" James exclaimed as his jaw dropped. Al could feel something big lurk.

"Insolence, that's what." Neville replied. James then dropped the big one.

"INSOLENCE?!" he barked, farting at that moment. McGonagall had arrived by then.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, insolence. Defined as contemptuously rude or impertinent behaviour or speech." McGonagall said, nostrils flaring. It dawned on James.

"Me? Rude? Is that the point you're trying to get into me? Sorry, Headmistress, but you must stop using such big words. It's bad for my poor ol' head. I'm so sorry."

"James Sirius, you're dating a _Ravenclaw_." Lily pointed out just before another blast.

"POTTER! DETENTION! YOUR CHEEK MUST END! NOW!" McGonagall shrieked.

"Another Walburga Black in the making." James muttered. Neville tapped his arm.

"Mr. Potter, I think it's better you come quietly, and I will repeat what the rather stern Headmistress is bound to say to you - your detention will begin this minute in her office." the Professor said, no shine in his eyes. McGonagall nodded mutely. James, knowing when he'd beaten, did indeed come quietly. Lily and Cynthia shrugged.

"It was bound to happen eventua- oh_ Merlin _what's _THAT?_" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh Merlin indeed, I think James left the lingering smell of methane here." Al said.

"Lovely. Absolutely spiffing." Lily, Rose and Cynthia all chorused. Al chuckled.

"I know. He gets the award for being the most gross, disgusting, horrid, sickly-"

"That's my boyfriend you're criticising, you imbeciles!" Cynthia barked, a mix of admiration, anger and pure defensive streak shining in her fern-green eyes.

"Very nice insults. Your Ravenclaw brain never leaves you." Rose half-smiled.

"Says the girl whose mother was nearly sorted with the eagles." Cynthia retorted.

"I think your glorious mind skipped past Rosie's compliment." Al said.

"Hey, where's Lily?" Rose asked, noticing that the smaller redhead wasn't there.

"Ravenclaw table." Cynthia said, skimming the Hall. "I feel a win coming."

"You never know. Lysander might feel something first if Lily chickens out." Al said.

"They're_ twelve_." Rose pointed out. "Puppy love at best. Then again..." she realised.

"You started getting feelings for me at thirteen." Al finished. Rose beamed at him.

"I will refrain from saying something." Cynthia muttered. Rose gave her a look.

"You just spoke." the Gryffindor girl smirked. Cynthia muttered something again.

"Touché." Al laughed. Cynthia nearly screamed, but settled for a dignified huff.

"You people are _impossible!_" she exclaimed, glaring at them.

"What a pretty picture." Al said ironically. He was hit by an exclaimation of 'Wha?' from Cynthia and a rather angry shout of '_Excuse_ me?' from Rose.

"Firstly, are you trying to hit on your brother's girlfriend, and secondly, and _most important._" Rose started to growl. "Are you implying that I'm_ not _pretty?"

"Not at all Rosie, my dear Roseflower. I love _you_. And you're gorgeous, you know it." Al said lovingly. Rose's knees went weak at the following kiss on the forehead. "I have the power to solve everything." Al smirked. Rose socked him on the shoulder.

"I think I'm going to be physically sick." Cynthia muttered, just as Lily came back.

"Why?" Lily asked. Cynthia just looked in Rose's direction. Lily nodded. Rose glared.

"Anyway, I'm off. A perfect opportunity to switch tables, Lils." Cynthia grinned.

"Not until you apologise for the 'physically sick' remark!" Rose called. But her holler fell on deaf ears. "Hmph." she pouted, lower lip and all. Lily giggled and Al smiled.

"Stop pouting." Al laughed. Rose continued to pout. "I know how to make that go." he smiled with adoration as he stroked the right side of his cousin's face from her hairline to her chin. Rose let out a loving giggle. Lily pulled an obnoxious face.

"Now_ I'm _going to be physically sick." she said. "Badly. What spell did Uncle Ron want to use on Scorpius' dad back in their second year? Seriously!" she demanded.

"Oh, for _that_, we have revenge planned." Rose said evilly, thinking something up quick as a flash. Al looked at her. She whispered something, and then Al had an equally evil look on his face, trying not to cackle dangerously. _Oh Merlin_ Lily thought, racing off. "Cheeky coward!" Rose shouted. "Lily Luna Potter you will pay!"

"Are we really going to wreak the revenge you plotted?" Albus pondered.

"Of course. Jamie-dear will no doubt help us, will he not?" Rose queried.

"Chances are that he will. It's at his sister's expense. And much as we love Lily, we also love taking the light-hearted mickey out of her." Al replied. "But keep it quiet."

"Duh." Rose rolled her eyes and kissed him. "How did you become such a swell kisser? Answer me that, Albus Severus Potter, before I lock lips once more."

"Your lips are just too good, and I had to try to hit a great standard to please you."

"Albie..." Rose said, her brown eyes watering with happiness. "You sap."

"I couldn't be happier, _you _make me the lovable sap you adore." Al said sincerely. Four days later, Cynthia walked into the Great Hall, but it irked Al and Rose.

"What's that stench?" Rose pondered. James, next to her, grinned and laughed.

"Even though your pranking side came through, thank you." Cynthia said fondly, hugging and kissing James. "You kept the mental note." she chuckled sweetly.

"So that's the stench! Pot marigolds!" Rose said. "What did you do, James?"

"He triggered a load of them to rain on me as soon as I got up." Cynthia answered for him. "I'm guessing a little pre-Valentine surprise?" James nodded.

"Lo and behold, he has emotions!" Al cried, pointing at his brother.

"After just over nine months you'd think so." Rose grinned. James gave a dirty look.

"I care in my relationship with Cynth!" he pouted. Cynthia smiled.

"I know you do." she grinned lovingly. "I'll never forget that Tuesday. You bought me a tin of heart-shaped Honeydukes to show you definitely liked me."

"Oh _BLEURGH!_" Al and Rose pretended to vomit. Cynthia threw them a look.

"Unhhh..." the Ravenclaw moaned. It hit Rose over the head.

"You're right Cynthia. That was wrong of us, we're sorry." she apologised.

"Yeah, sorry you two." Al said guiltily, and he truly looked it.

"It's OK. Right, Cynth?" James asked, even though he was still a bit narked.

"I s'pose. But Al and Rose are now our _slaves_." Cynthia smirked evilly. This comment fuelled bursts of outrage from the aforementioned couple.

"You've been spending too much time with _him_." Rose growled, jerking her thumb in James' direction. Cynthia leaned into James and shook her head with a smile.

"You two are bad enough. Hypocrites." James said, his face caught between a grin at the feel of Cynthia on his shoulder and a scowl at Al and Rose being gits.

"What are our first... tasks as your minions, dare I ask?" Al pondered, ignoring Rose's cry of '_Al! _You can't be serious! Us, slaves to_ them! _We'll be screwed!'

"Well... first, Al, you have to feed Rose to the Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest-" James said with a completely serious face, not one muscle spasm betraying it.

"Eeeeehhhh?" Rose squeaked in horror - the poor girl was as white as a sheet, and took off like a rocket. Al stared for a second, then glared back at James.

"You unfeeling git. You _know_ about Rose's fear." he glared, his eyes blazing with cold fury, turning an unsettling shade of bottle-green. James gulped. And wordlessly, Albus took off to find his other half. Luckily, he had a feeling where she'd be. The previous Easter at the Burrow, Harry had told Albus were all the infamous secret passages were, because, and he quoted 'your most mischievous uncles gave me the Marauder's Map in my third year'. George had given Harry and Al a smile afterwards. Al and Rose had memorised the passages immediately, and Rose's favourite was, ironically, the one-eyed witch passage on the third floor - Al had laughed, considering Hermione's whining in _her_ first year about the third floor. As fast as his legs could take him, Al was sprinting to the one-eyed witch.

"Dissendium." he muttered, tapping the statue with his wand. "Rosie?" he asked. Rose responded with a sniff. "Roseflower?" Al asked tenderly, climbing in.

"Al..." she whispered. "A-ac-acromantula." she whispered again in a strangled tone.

"There's nothing to worry, my flower." Al said, pulling her onto his lap.

Rose buried her head in the crook of his neck, and Al hugged her. "There, there."

"I-I know, and you make m-me feel safe, b-but when it comes to..." Rose sputtered.

"I understand." Al smiled, loving the exquisite feel of Rose's head in his neck crook.

"J-James is an idiot. I-I hope Cynthia wh-whacks some sense into him." Rose said.

"No argument from me on that one. He crossed a line there." Al replied, stroking Rose's hair, and feeling her smile as he did so. "James knows about your fear-"

"-yet he disregarded it. Did you see the serious expression on his face?" Rose's muffled voice came. Al nodded, an uncharacteristically dark look on his own face.

"He'll pay for freaking my Roseflower out." he muttered in a low voice. "The one who matters the most to me, night and day, any situation. Rosie, you come first before anyone. You always did as a cousin and a best friend, and now, of course, as more than that. I love you Roseflower, forever and day." Al's face changed to a smile as Rose pulled away to give her other half a blushing grin. "Awww." Al crooned.

"Stoppit." Rose mumbled, rubbing his jaw. "Just promise me one thing."

"Anything for you." Al replied, his bright emeralds giving her his word.

"Give James a taste of his own medicine for scaring me." And with that, Al nodded.

**AN: Life's been bogging me down with writer's block, but it was worth it because I ended up with this beaut. Oh, James is in for it now. Speaking of whom, I gave a little insight into his and Cynthia's relationship for those are curious, because a part of me was when I looked at this story as an outsider. The 'moderate canon characters' were McGonagall and Hagrid, because I don't write our favourite Transfiguration teacher very much at all, and I've never written Hagrid. Speaking of McGonagall, her definition of insolence when she's grilling James is copied word-for-word straight off of . Search it, I'm not joking.**


	10. Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed

**Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed**

**Author Note: Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. I'll admit it's been a long while, but I haven't forgotten about this fic. A lot of things happened, alongside a general lack of creativity, but now I'm back for sure.**

Rose awoke early to see a nearly empty common room on February 14th. Well, that is Albus was there with a bouquet of roses in his hands.

"Happy Valentine's, Roseflower." Al smiled as he handed her the bouquet, pecking her on the lips. He then muttered something in her ear that made her go red as he swept her up into his arms bridal-style.

"Don't you dare go there." Rose half-smiled with a mad look in her eyes.

"Go where?" Al queried passively, donning an innocent look.

"Down the route of the wedding bouquet routine and naming our children!"

"But _Rooooooose!_" Al pouted. Rose smiled fully. "You look snug in my arms."

"Well it_ is _comfy." the redhead responded. "All right." she grinned.

"All right what?"

"We'll start throwing names around for years in the future, should it come to that."

"Thank you." Al beamed, kissing her and putting her down. "How about James?"

"How can you of all people consider namesakes for your children?" Rose asked.

"I wasn't thinking of my annoying squit of an older brother-"

"Oi!" the squit in question hollered - he had just gotten up from his slumber.

"You didn't hear the whole conversation!" Al defended.

"Fair enough." James reasoned. "But I am NOT a-"

"Yes you are." Al and Rose said in unison.

"Are not." James grunted.

"Are too." the couple chimed back, identical grins on their faces. "And besides, we're unsure whether to trust you about the contents of that conversation."

"Oh come on, it's _me_." James said. Al's and Rose's faces lit up.

"Al was considering thoughts for the future." Rose beamed. It took James a second.

"Ohh…" he trailed, a flicker of a smile on his face. "I must say that-"

"-you haven't thought about that particular circumstance with Cynthia?" Al asked. James shook his head. Al and Rose face-palmed. James glared and mumbled 'none of your bees-wax', and did a non-verbal 'Accio'. A blue scarf appeared and landed in James' hands. Rose raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"Partially hand-knitted, I didn't spend a Knut on it. Well, except on the blue wool and magic needles to make it." the elder Potter said. "Very similar to your mother, Rosie."

"Cynthia will love it." Al said earnestly. "Now let's go see about a Galleon-maker."

"How can you think of the bet we have on the youngest Potter child now?"

"To emulate Uncle Fred, matchmaking is Galleons, little cousin."

"Little cousin?! I'm _two-and-a-half weeks_ younger than you!" Rose pouted.

"And both birthdays are in March… how many times have we playfully bickered over this?" Al pondered, a finger poised on his chin in mock-thoughtful fashion.

"By my last count it's now a joyfully grand total of 468." James chipped in helpfully.

"Oh, swell." Rose deadpanned, half glaring at the brothers. The three of them walked down to the Great Hall – Rose had levitated Al's bouquet to her dorm, but had a rose sticking out of her robes, mirroring September. James darted over to the 'Claw table.

"Wha-?" Cynthia mumbled – James had just blindfolded her with the scarf. "James?"

"The one and only." James smiled. "And that was your present blinding you, my lovely." he grinned, handing the scarf over. Cynthia felt the wool between her fingers.

"It's great…" she said softly, looping it around her neck. "Happy Valentine's."

"Same to you." James said as Cynthia got up and made her way to the lion table.

"He shelled out his own money on this splendid gift!" Cynthia chirped to Al and Rose.

"Wrong, Cynthia. Jamie-dear knitted it himself like my Aunt Hermione did her infamous house-elf hats in '94." Al replied. Cynthia beamed at James, who winked.

"Morning, loved-up couples." Dominique smiled, passing the Gryffindor table.

"Happy Valentine's to you too, Dom. Whatcha got there?" James asked. Dom's face lit up with emotion. "Obviously a great prezzie from Monsieur Lupin." he mumbled.

"You'd be right. And James and Albus, I know it's not original, but I like it, so shh."

"A teddy bear." the brothers said in dual tones. Dom beamed, cuddling the teddy.

"Such a shame I can't be with him today, but the relationship is what matters. Hey Al, I've got a joke. How do you ring an Egyptian doorbell?"

"I don't know, Dom. How _do_ you ring an Egyptian doorbell?" Al replied uncertainly.

"Toot and come in!" Dom smirked, her eyes shining with mirth. Al chuckled.

"Always the funny one, Dom-Dom." He grinned. James was pouting excessively.

"I thought_ I_ was the master of all things comedic!" he groaned with his tongue out.

"You were usurped in a mighty coup, milord." Albus said in tone worthy of Percy. James did not take this news well, resorting to child-like behaviour. Cynthia sighed.

"Honestly, in the name of all things good, must you-"

"Yes I _must! _I have been mocked sorrowfully by my relative!" James retorted.

"You called?" Al, Rose, Dom and Lily (who had come over to say hello) queried.

"Whoa. Slightly unnerving." James hiccoughed. "Somehow at The Burrow it doesn't seem over-powering." The two younger Potters laughed. Al remembered something.

"Hey Dom, remember how you grilled me at first for getting with Rose?"

"Of course. A case of misjudgment on my part." Dom replied.

"Well, the 'sins' we mentioned at Christmas refer to the fact you and Teddy's mum share the same triple-great-grandparents." Al said. Dom's jaw dropped.

"From an outsider's view, if someone looked in depth, your family is a mess." Cynthia said. The three Potters and two Weasleys glared. "It's just look at Al and Rose, first-cousins, Teddy and Dom, fourth-cousins-once-removed, Harry and Ginny, third-cousins… it looks bizarre to an outsider. A blooming mess, actually. Now that I think about it, there's something I forgot to mention to you that time, Rose."

"And that was what, Cynthia?" Rose asked, interested while Al pulled her closer.

"You're a third-cousin of Professor Longbottom's." Cynthia said, smiling slightly.

"Really?" Rose asked with a lively tone. "What about the Potter siblings?"

"If you go through Ginny, it's the same, but through Harry they're fourth-cousins."

"Annie's going to love that." James smiled. "But it partially proves Cynth's point. So Lils, any cards today?" Lily shook her head, slightly sad. Suddenly someone yelled.

"I know that voice..." Rose mused. Nicholas Kirke went whizzing through the air on Weasley Wildfire Whiz-bang, his body strapped to it. Fred II cackled from afar.

"I had nothing to do with it, I swear, it was all Fred's doing." James pleaded - Cynthia was giving him the evil eye. Later on, Rose's question was turned upside down.

"Dear Lily, hope you're having a lovely day, absolute best wishes from your BFF and Valentine, Lysander." Lily beamed, holding the card to her chest - an envelope had appeared where she usually sat on the Gryffindor table. James looked at Albus and Rose, playing his poker face. The couple knew he was up to chaos. Cynthia smiled.

"What's going on?" Lily asked, truly flabbergasted. The fourth-years tutted.

"James is being James, Lil." Al responded. James didn't move a muscle.

"There's no reason to play that poker face with us." Rose pointed out.

"Sure there is." James laughed, twitching. "So I can flush Lily down the-"

"I DON'T APPRECIATE THAT!" Lily screeched. James seemed to shrink a little.

"Lighten up, dear sister. Poker? Flush? What you don't appreciate are _puns_."

"Oh pffft!" Lily pouted, sticking her tongue out. "At least Lysander cares for me."

"Who said we don't, Lil? We care dearly, don't we guys?" Rose asked earnestly. James and Al nodded, brotherly protectiveness shining evidently in their faces.

"OK!" Lily replied, suddenly happy again, and skipped away.

"Who thinks she's channeling her future mother-in-law there?" Al smiled.

"Aye!" James, Cynthia and Rose chorused, daring to laugh. "I tell you, cough up my gold now Rose. It'll save time." James continued. Rose glared.

"_Your_ gold? Even if you win, I'm not giving you the Galleons until next Summer."

"Oh, poo." James protested. Cynthia snickered. Al and Rose high-fived.

"Is this really ethical, though?" Cynthia pondered. James looked at her.

"_Now _you ask that question?! Seriously?" he asked disbelievingly, missing her smile.

"No. _James _Siriusly." she quipped, laughing. James face-palmed. Al and Rose weren't far off from doing the same, looking at Cynthia like she had a screw loose.

"I think we've had a bad influence on her." the Potter brothers said in unison.

"Oh stop quoting Ron." Cynthia smirked. Rose blew a raspberry. All in all, a fun day.

"Say, what were you properly talking about when you called me an annoying squit?" James asked one day a few weeks later as the March weather grazed the windows.

"Oh I almost forgot about that!" Rose exclaimed, ignoring Al's protests of 'no you haven't, you're lying', but she smiled at them nonetheless. "We were spitballing ideas around for our future children if it comes to that." she said with a gentle smile at Al.

"That's moving." James said, a fondness in his eyes. "Any good ones?"

"Well I suggested James-" Al said. "-but I was not referring to a namesake idea." James then preceded to grumble under his breath about 'Al and Rose not caring enough and not having sentimentality'. Rose responded with an evil look.

"You never said what you might have had in your head for a girl." she said.

"Maybe Isabella. But those were just off-the-cuff ideas." Al replied.

"Good ones. But you're right. They don't really sound like 'us'." Rose agreed.

"Albus! Rose!" Lucy suddenly appeared. The couple turned their heads. "Come with me." As much as she was an OK cousin, she was still a fierce Prefect, and Al especially had this in mind as he followed her to the particular corridor they had found Megan Finch-Fletchley covered in boils back in October.

"What's this?" the older girl questioned, opening the cupboard and casting 'lumos'.

"I'd forgotten about that." Rose muttered under her breath - her chiseled 'AP + RW' was still firmly engraved on the inside. Lucy gave them a look torn between anger and confusion. Mostly anger though. Rose massaged her own throat, gulping.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for defacing school property," Lucy said primly.

"Wha- we never-" Al stammered while Rose downright shook her head feverishly.

"How many AP's and RW's are couples in this castle?" Lucy hissed, eyes blazing.

"Adele Page and... oh alright, you caught us." Al mumbled. Rose shook her head.

"Adele Page? She's a Muggleborn fifth-year. I doubt she'd do something like this."

"Know her personally, do you Rose?" Lucy queried. Rose nodded.

"She gave me a helping hand in Transfiguration last year."

"_Rose Weasley_ had trouble with a subject?" Al's jaw dropped.

"I have mental blocks in Transfiguration sometimes, OK?" Rose shrugged.

"Anyway, those twenty points still stand." Lucy interrupted.

"Alright, we won't protest. But Luce-"

"Don't 'Luce' me, Albus Severus!" Lucy bit back. Rose tried a different tactic.

"Lucy, no offense, but you seem snarkier than usual. Any reason?" she asked gently.

"None of your business!" Lucy barked, stomping away and breaking into a strut.

"Well someone's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Go to Molly?" Al suggested.

"Go to Molly." Rose agreed. They found Lucy's younger-by-a-year sister in the Gryffindor common room. Al caught Molly's eye and did a jerk of the head.

"What in the name of Merlin's Y-fronts is up with Lucy?" Rose asked in the corridor.

"Heard the story of how my dad left the family during the Second War?" Molly asked. Albus and Rose nodded. "Lucy has done the same. She seems to be the living replica of him. It happened on New Year's Day." Molly said, inhaling. "She said wants out, and to drop all Weasley connections. During the argument, my mum put anti-Apparation wards on our house. Lucy hexed her when she realised the wards were there." she hissed. Al and Rose tensed angrily - they were quite fond of Audrey. "She's biding her time until she can high-tail it to the deed poll office and change her surname - and forename, if I know my sister. The stickler doesn't dare take Ageing Potion though and do it now. Not the best way to do 'rock and roll-style rebel'."

"She dealt with you at King's Cross in January though, I suppose?" Al asked.

"Yes." Molly said icily. "Nevertheless, we're pretty sure she's hiding out in Bath now."

"Bath does have Tilney." Rose stated, referring to the second (after Hogsmeade) entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain. Molly gave a derisive snort.

"That's _why_ she ran off to _Bath_. To pour some pure-blood salt in the wound there." At that comment, Al called Lucy a few names that would have greatly annoyed Hermione, and Rose gave him a look as it was, despite agreeing with his sentiments.

"I don't know why she decided to go all 'snooty pure-blood' on you. Aunt Audrey's half-blood, right?" Rose pondered. Molly nodded. "Well there you go!"

"Lucy doesn't give a flying Hippogriff turd." Molly responded, her face turning sour. "In fact she's jealous of Dom for getting the Head Girl position."

"How can one person be _that_ conceited?" Rose wondered. Molly shrugged.

"Well if that's the game she's playing, we'll zone her out. She can think we're stooping to her level, but who cares?" Al said, his green eyes blazing. "Oh heavens, when I think of her, I am so agitated!"

"Me too." Rose and Molly responded, the former hugging him closely to calm him. "Are we the only ones to know about Lucy's abandonment?" Rose continued. Molly nodded.

Rose stamped her foot impertinently, mumbling under her breath. "-and just when we completely trusted and everything!" she finished. Al decided to wrap it up.

"Well thanks for telling us why she's flipped her lid, Molls." he smiled warmly. Molly smiled back and returned to the common room. Seeing as it was Saturday, Al and Rose took a walk around the castle. "Hey, I have an idea." Al suddenly said, with Rose's arm around his midriff and her head resting lovingly on his shoulder.

"Oh oh oh, let's forward the idea!" Rose beamed as Al whispered it. Rose cackled.

"You're evil, cackling like a witch." Al smirked. Rose raised an intelligent eyebrow.

"Unless you've forgotten, dearest Albie, I _am_ a witch!" she smiled half-jokingly.

"Come on, you." Al laughed, ruffling her hair. "Awww." he suddenly smiled.

"Yes, I know I'm smaller than you. You don't have to 'awww'." Rose grinned slightly. As slightly comedic as the couple found it, Rose couldn't help her height of five-foot-one. Al was about five-foot-seven, and when they hugged, he frequently had her hair collide with his nostrils. Rose stomped her foot almost unnoticeably. "Lily-"

"-is _twelve_." Al finished Rose's sentence, knowing where she was going with this. "Now come on, let's brainstorm on some parchment." he said. Rose clapped.

They walked into the Gryffindor common room later, and seeked out James and Cynthia. Smiling devilishly, the fourth-years walked over. Cynthia looked uneasy.

"You two are plotting something, aren't you? Albus Plotter and Rose Beastly." James couldn't help himself - he exploded with laughter. Al and Rose glared immensely.

"You won't be laughing in a minute." Rose scoffed, brandishing a piece of parchment in front of them - she'd charmed it to look official, just to put the cherry on the cake.

"Things that James and Cyn- no way. No way in_ hell_ did you _actually _write this."

"Yes we did, Cynthia. Read it and weep." Albus smirked. James grunted.

"James is not allowed to mock Al about his female friends outside the family."

"Cynthia shall not compete with Dom in a blonde ponytail battle." Cynthia read.

"James shall not prank Rose under pain of Rictusempra."

"Cynthia is forbidden to engage in 'couple cuteness' fights with Rose."

"James will under no circumstances strap Al to a firew-" James faltered in mid-word.

"Yes we know about Fred's prank. And no you won't be replicating it." Al said. While this developed into a full-scale bickering war, with Cynthia and James against Al, Rose grabbed a piece of parchment, wrote something down and got it to float over to where Lily was. The note got the younger girl's attention.

_Lils, meet me by the one-eyed witch at 10 tonight. I told you teaching you Disillusionment Charms would come in handy. Rose, x._ Lily quickly clicked about the one-eyed witch, but for the life of her couldn't figure out why Rose wanted to talk alone. Problems with Al? She got Rose's eye, and mouthed her suspicion. Rose shook her head. 'Don't be ludicrous' she mouthed back, consciously rubbing Al's leg and smiling. Lily scribbled on the back of the note and sent it back. _Rose, lovely image you just let me see of you groping my brother in a crowded room. Lils, x._ Rose fought very hard to keep a straight face as Lily walked over.

"What's this chaos, then?" she asked sweetly. James handed her the list, scowling.

"Things that James and Cynthia are not allowed to do." Lily read, laughing. As she skimmed the list, her grin grew bigger. "Oh no! Merlin, I'm going to wet myself!" she screamed with mirth. Cynthia jabbed her wand in Lily's shoulder. Al gave her a look.

"James?" he pondered, catching James' eye and then looking at Cynthia.

"Cynth, that may be going a step too far. Think how your brother would react if someone was poking you with violence." At this, Cynthia put her wand down. Lily promptly hugged James and Al, affection pouring out. Rose and Cynthia smiled.

"I have the most caring brothers in the world!" Lily beamed. James and Al looked abashed, the former rubbing her back. At this point, Hugo and Megan walked in. Such a fact did not escape Rose's notice, who was dying to grin maniacally.

"You're not the one who can get spell help from someone two years senior, Lily."

"Oh hardy-hardy-har." Lily deadpanned, her voice high. "What did he bribe you with?"

"Nothing, Lily." Megan replied. Rose looked at Hugo slyly, who'd turned pink.

"I know Megan likes lemon-flavoured Bertie Bott's." he mumbled as Megan popped one in her mouth. "When life gives you lemons-" Hugo started as Megan grinned.

"-squirt the juice in people's eyes!" the Hufflepuff finished. The others groaned.

"Maudlin, psychotic buggers." James mumbled. Megan squirted a lemon fruit out of nowhere. "My eye!" he screamed. Cynthia, being the smart Ravenclaw and caring girlfriend she was, threw a look at Megan and then guided James to the Hospital Wing. "Hugo, you'll pay for this!" James' bellow echoed.

Megan and Hugo looked rather ashamed now. Al put a hand on Megan's shoulder.

"James always plays pranks, and sometimes they come out slightly hurtful too. Nothing to worry about. I promise." the Potter child said. Megan relaxed.

That night Rose and Al were relaxing when she got up from the armchair.

"What are you up to, retreating from my lap?" Al asked. Rose smiled.

"Just wanted a wander alone." she said. Al looked at her curiously. "I'll be fine!"

"You promise?" Al asked concernedly. Rose nodded enthusiastically.

"You're really protective lately." she beamed. Al made a love-heart with his hands. Rose laughed, and walked away. As soon as she was in the corridor she cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself, and headed off to the third floor. When she got to the corridor four floors below, she noticed some heavy breathing. She winked.

"Lils?" the older redhead whispered. A whispered 'Dissendium' from Lily and the one-eyed witch opened. Rose took her Charm off and climbed in.

"So what's up?" Lily asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this mystery.

"Well you know how I'm 5 foot 1?" Rose pondered sheepishly. Lily slowly nodded.

"So? Ohh... it's to do with Al being half a foot taller, right?" the 2nd-year said, fighting an urge to grin. Rose's expression showed Lily was half-right, but half-wrong.

"Sort of. James and Al have Potter genes as all..." Rose mused. Lily got a light-bulb.

"You're not mulling over... oh _Rosie!_" she exclaimed, using the affectionate nickname.

"It crossed my mind earlier when I took a walk with Al. I started thinking about what you'll be like at fourteen or older." Rose said, a very slight tremble in her voice.

"Rosie, you're adorable sometimes. Look at me!" Lily said, gesturing with her hands to her torso. "You're actually worried? Sorry, I didn't catch that." (Rose had mumbled)

"Strangers think me and Hugo are twins." Rose repeated. At this Lily utterly laughed.

"Most adorable cousin on the planet, you are." she chuckled, hugging Rose.

"I _will _be when you tower over me in a few years and I stop growing." Rose said. "No, listen to me. You Potters and Hugo will all be skyscrapers, and I'll be a dwarf. I bet."

"If that puts your mind at ease. How much?" Lily said, her cousin's posture relaxing.

"Eight sickles. This is about just you and me. I'll end up being not even 5 foot 3, and you'll be a crazily insane 5 foot 7." Rose said, blushing. Lily looked thoughtful.

"You forget I'm also my mother's daughter. I'd say I turn out 5 foot 5." she replied.

"The day you inch me out, I'll hand over the first four Sickles." Rose said, smiling.

"Oh Rose..." Lily trailed, laughing as Rose lifted and twirled her. "We'll see in your NEWT year, shall we?" she grinned, thinking three years was a logical time to wait.

**AN: Weird how I sat down with creative juices buzzing, I got a lot done. It's been stop-and-start. I know Isay this every few chapters, but a few of my favourite scenes yet are here - they've been a true labour of love. The Egyptian doorbell was a real joke my cousin told me, so I had to make a nice little Albus-and-Dominique moment of it. The child-naming-ideas (James and Isabella) are a nod to Jane Austen's _Northanger Abbey_, and there's a quote from Al that's pretty much lifted out of _Northanger_, as well, but very slightly tweaked.**


	11. Leave It To Rose To Be The Noble Cousin

**Leave It To Rose To Be The Noble Cousin**

**Author Note: Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. Deepest apologies for the delay, but there's three chapters left including this one, my loyal readers!**

Albus woke on March 5th very early, suddenly full of energy despite the pink streaks across the navy sky - sun had just risen past the horizon. He stealthily swept downstairs to find James just as bouncy in the common room.

"What's your explanation for energy?" James queried, mayhem in his brown eyes.

"No reason. Albus the Adrenaline-filled, that's me!" Al smirked. "Well, I've been planning Rose's birthday party in my head." he said. Lily popped up in her nightgown.

"Good morning." she smiled. A spasm crossed James' face at how his family seemed to be telepathic. But nevertheless, he wanted Rose's birthday to be special too.

"Righto, my siblings. How are we going to make tomorrow good for Roseflower?"

"Well I thought you had the surprise party in the bag, Al." Lily replied. Al smiled.

"I do, Lils. I take it you've got her present?" he asked. Lily scoffed heartedly.

"Pffft! Of course! And I have an extra surprise for her - a girls' night in on Saturday."

"Ohhh nnnooo!" James and Al moaned dramatically. Lily put her hands on her hips.

"Oh yes. Me, Rosie and Megan." she laughed at the incredulous looks she got. "What? It's not like that will spell trouble." she said with a completely straight face.

"It will. It definitely will. My Merlin... that is the very brink of silliness." Al said. But then he smiled a devilish smirk. The cunning was written all over his face. "Oh Lily dear?"

"What, Albus dear?" Lily pondered, playing his game. The middle Potter's smirk grew.

"I'm no female, but with Rosie's knowledge, shouldn't there be gossip there?"

"What on earth has your Rose-infatuated mind cooked up this time?" Lily hissed.

"Mystery is as mystery does." Al replied, a cryptic smile across his features.

"Well clearly you're no female, Al. You with breasts... perish the thought." James shuddered. Al did a rude gesture in his brother's direction. "Right, I never thought I'd say this, but we should get to class. And by that I mean wolf down breakfast!"

"Have you had sugar already today?" Lily asked. James shook his head, and bounded down to the Great Hall, streaking like a hyper cheetah. Albus face-palmed.

"Yes, I know you want a private moment with Rose tomorrow." Lily said. "The surprise party wouldn't dare interfere with that, right? So I'm guessing it's at 6?"

"Yep." Al said, both younger siblings heading down to the Great Hall. "So..."

"...me and Hugo are in charge of banners, Dom is owling various adults to see if they have a spare slot, and you, James and Fred are setting up the rest of the Room." Lily recited the plan for Rose's surprise party. "You know if you go all out this year, you can't top it at all, Al. I know what goes on inside your complicated mind, you see. You're pulling the big guns since it's her first birthday since you two got together."

"You, Lily Luna Potter, are a menace." Al retaliated, a weird look in his eyes.

"Since when have I ever been a menace?" Lily pondered, a picture of innocence as a cat-shaped shadow slinked by. As they were in the Entrance Hall at this point, Al swung her over his shoulder, laughing. "Ahh! Albus Severus Potter, put me down!"

"Well this is entertaining." McGonagall's crisp voice had in a hint of humour in it.

"Professor!" Al gasped and turned around, nearly dropping his sister.

"Personally I'm surprised you didn't wet yourself in fear then, Al." Lily smirked.

"And it's good to be one scaring the mischief-makers, for once. I can't seem to take you two, James and Fred for much longer without fainting." McGonagall laughed. Al and Lily then just froze. Rose suddenly popped her head round the door.

"Morning, you two. Good morning, Professor. Gracious, Albie, what's happened?"

"They made me laugh, Rose." McGonagall replied, and walked into the Great Hall.

"Come on you two." the Weasley girl sighed comically, pulling her cousins along. Unfortunately, Al heard a muscle spasm. Rose looked at him and shrugged painfully.

"Simple physics, Roseflower. Did you really think you could pull me? Come here you silly thing." he said lovingly, putting his arms around Rose in an embrace.

"I was trying to be half-comical." came Rose's muffled voice against Al's neck.

"I'm sure Saturday will be fully comical." Lily mumbled with a barely-hidden grin.

"What was that?" Rose questioned. Lily whistled nonchalantly. Rose grumbled.

"Damn you Lily Luna Potter, you menace." she continued to grumble. Al laughed, while Lily had a facial expression caught between shock and grouchiness. They sat down at the Gryffindor table, where Hugo had saved them three seats, who made a rather atypical (and philosophical) observation after 'good morning' greetings.

"Don't you find it weird that we're friendlier to family than peers in our years?"

"Good observation, old Hughie-boy." Lily smiled. Hugo looked weirded-out.

"'Old Hughie-boy'? Where in the name of Merlin did _that _come from?"

"Made it up just now." Lily smirked. Hugo whispered something like 'Lysander's influence', which prompted a smack from his cousin of the same age.

"Roossse! Lily's hitting me! Make her stop! Pwetty pwease?" Hugo moaned. Rose sighed and Albus made a gesture under the table, mumbling 'such a child'.

"I _am_ a child! And so are you!" Hugo fired back - he'd heard Al's comment.

"_I _am a respectable young adult." Al responded, puffing out his chest. Rose scoffed.

"Oh don't be so mature Rose, you swot." Lily laughed. Rose looked annoyed.

"Silly Lily." she huffed. Of course, the younger redhead fired back with vigour.

"Brown-nose Rose." Lily mocked with a grin. "And no way is Albus a respectable young adult. Between us, we know him best, so there's no evidence to back it up."

"Hey!" Al exclaimed. "I am _too!_ Right, I'm whittling down your birthday present Lil!"

"April 16th is a long way off!" Lily said, whilst catching the sight of Hugo doodling on the wooden table out of the corner of her eye. "_Hugo Jacob Weasley!_" she shrieked.

"What?" Hugo asked, his wand flying into Lily's hair. Lily harrumphed.

"Stop doodling! Argh!" she exclaimed - heat had been protruding from his wand. She fumbled around in her ginger locks and got it out, only to use it like a pointing finger. "Not only have you just used your wand to deface Hogwarts property, you have just singed my hair! Whether that was inadvertent or not, it still counts!" And indeed, there were brown bits in the ginger - clear scorch marks. Lily threw back Hugo's wand.

"That's a good look for you, you know cuz?" Hugo said completely neutrally.

"Ohhhh, don't you - just don't." Lily hissed bitterly. Rose decided to intervene.

"Alright! Enough is enough. Hugo, you've clearly marked the table and Lily's hair. And Lils..." Rose paused at the affectionate name, trying to reason. "...we can fix the brown marks. Unless you'd like to add highlights?" she pondered. Lily shook her head. Rose slowly nodded. "Just thought it would be a nice gesture from me to you."

"Rosie dear." Lily smiled, rolling her eyes. "It's _your _birthday tomorrow. Think clearly."

"Leave it to Rose to be the noble cousin." James said fondly as Al hugged her. All this was too much for Rose herself, who blushed a rather rosy pink.

"Now back to the issue that's clearly twisted, I'm completely respectable!" Al boasted.

"You just suppose what you want to suppose, Al." Rose smiled, leaning up to ruffle his hair. Al looked down at her, his green eyes memorising every bit of her face.

"That can be decided with Legilimency." he mumbled, and Rose picked up on the tone of his voice - a cheeky whisper that showed he was acting out a pun - or at least, trying to. Both of them seemingly had a memory bank in their heads that was full of special moments between the two - almost like their favourite memories they could put in a Pensieve. This touching moment was interrupted by a loud cough from Lily.

"When you two lovebirds have _quite _finished?" she interrupted, earning herself a glare from Rose. Said glare was nearly followed by a rude gesture, but the 'little voice' of Rose's conscience, which sounded uncannily like her mother's voice, stopped her. 'Stop short of behaviour becoming an irresponsible hoodlum' Hermione had said once when Rose had been intrigued by a rude-physical-gesture contest between Ron and Hugo - the latter being educated in such ways by the former - when the young girl was eight. Of course, Hermione had sent a flock of birds at Ron for this, similar to the quarrelsome couple's sixth year. But still, nearly seven years later, Hermione's saying about hoodlums still stuck with Rose. Not that she didn't bend the rules a little - she was a Weasley - but she was more like her mother than she acknowledged. She was not the hardened delinquent that select few other cousins seemed to be. Albus' voice penetrated her seemingly random thoughts.

"Earth to Roseflower? What's going on in _there?_" he said, gently tapping her temple.

"Nothing much, Albie. I assure you." she grinned. "Really, just daydreaming."

"Bona fide geniuses aren't _allowed_ to daydream!" Al responded in faux-shock.

"Oh _Albus_..." Rose said, gently blushing from the compliment. "You're smart too."

"The only way I could match your brains is by some sort of _voodoo!_" he screeched.

"Voodoo, you say?" Rose repeated, trying not to giggle from the Muggle term.

"Some sort of _scary _voodoo!" Al hissed comically. Rose put her finger on her chin.

"All voodoo is supposed to scary, according to Muggles. And besides, it doesn't ex-"

"Don't ruin my tangent, Roseflower!" Al pouted, sticking his tongue out afterwards.

"We'll offer our sibling-centric hexing services, Rosie." James and Lily chorused.

"Hmm." Rose paused in speculation. "I'm not going to allow that." she said, ignoring Lily's groan. "Since I'm protective. Even though I am the younger one out of us two."

"An upside-down flip on the broom if there ever was one." James laughed lightly.

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?!" Hugo queried. "You're bordering on insanity, I swear. One of the days..." but James finished his thought for him.

"...you'll be the insane one. Plumb crazy." Then, something inside of Lily snapped.

"Rictusempra!" And then James and Albus were tickled to death by invisible hands.

"L-L-Lils! St-stop this mad-n-ness!" they stuttered with restrained chuckles.

"We beg to be released from this horror!" Albus almost screamed. Lily winked evilly.

"We beg for mercy! Please! MERCY!" James positively hollered, distracting the lions.

After her brothers had been let loose from her Tickling Charm, Lily calmed down. Rose then felt it was an appropriate time to probe into Lily's mind with questions.

"What's going on Lils? You're not usually like that."

"Leonard Carmiachel's the problem. He is-" but Lily was cut off.

"He is a snotty little third-year in Ravenclaw is what he is." James replied.

"How did you know? Never mind, actually." Lily said, a slight smirk forming. "Yeah, he pulled a prank on me and my roommates, trying to infiltrate Myrtle's bathroom."

"Did he now?" Rose queried, the gears forming in her head for vengeance. Some might expect that Lily and her roommates were cracked, but Myrtle was calmer now.

"So what do we do, Rosie? Pyromania?" James said excitedly, a gleam in his eye.

"Is an ambush of the chocolate variety needed?" Hugo gibbered just as excitedly.

"Do we require assistance from Hagrid and his... furry friends?" Al nearly boomed with glee. Rose didn't hesitate to reply to the boys' such insane suggestions.

"No, _no_ and NO!" she fired back. "And Hugh... chocolate ambush? What is-"

"The plan is... Merlin I'm brilliant, I surprise myself sometimes I really do. The plan is to stack loads and loads and LOADS of tins of chocolate by one of the passages..." Hugo recited, barely containing his smirk and a vicious urge to giggle.

"I like where this is going." James mused humourously, chuckling to himself.

"...and when Carmichael walks by the passage we're undercover inside-" (at this, Lily's face was one of shock) "- we creak said passage open, unleash their contents and hey blammo!" Hugo finished pompously. James and Albus could not help exploding with raucous laughter. Tear tracks on Al's face turned it blotchy in seconds.

"Hugo! I will not have you breaking him!" Rose shot a glare at her brother, clearly concerned for Al's mental health. James was nearly peeing himself intently.

"A chocolate ambush akin to a landslide, oh how I love it! Hugh, if this works..."

"You do realise that Dom-" but Rose was Silenced by James, who was on a roll now.

"To hell with Dom!" he hollered at the top of his voice. He then proceeded (to the anguish of the headmistress) to climb on top of the Gryffindor table and shout across to the Head Girl. "D'you hear that, you insufficient little badger! You can't get me, Dominique Grace!" he nearly screamed. He didn't count on the authority behind him.

"No, but_ I _can, James Sirius." McGonagall's voice was literally ice. James gulped. "Such mockery will result in detention - you know, I'm getting tired of doing this."

"Then don't do it, Minnie. Let me run wild and free." James' reply got a face-palm from Lily and Rose and Albus looked horrified at the idea of a 'wild and free' James.

"You will clean my study on Saturday, Potter. Report to me at midday." McGonagall continued icily. Al tried not to chuckle. Lily's interest was piqued, and asked why.

"James will no doubt be hungover from the party." he mumbled, away from Rose.

"I'll hide the curing potion." Lily smiled cunningly. Al patted her head affectionately.

"Good girl, Lils." he smiled. Meanwhile, James was trying to reason miserably.

"But Minerva... you can't force me to clean your study. Al is the one who puked-"

"_That _was _you_, James!" Rose exploded, prodding James in the chest. James was trying to frame Al for an incident the previous year where an accidental trip to the Headmistress' office had lead to a spell gone wrong and James had vomited in huge quantities all over the place. McGonagall almost smiled at the Potter-Weasley fight.

"I remember that incident well. All the more reason for you to clean, Potter." Then she walked away with a no-nonsense manner. James looked pained. Cleaning was-

"-going to be very taxing indeed." Hugo continued verbally, seeming to pick up on his cousin's thoughts. James wanted more than anything to retort, but kept silent.

He sprang up from the table, but didn't notice his relatives' 'ooohh' sound behind him.

"Insufficient. _Little_. Badger? Really, James?" Dom nearly hissed. James' breath hitched when he faced her, and he nearly swore, only to be stopped by Rose's Silencing Charm. Dom had inherited hints of both Bill and Fleur's height, and to add insult to injury, had high heels on she'd borrowed from one of Gabrielle's daughters. All in all, she clocked in at 5 foot 11. James turned white as he worked this out.

"Now he gets a slight dash of how we feel." Rose and Lily both mumbled.

"Awww, you two are fine." Al said in soothing tones, smiling. Rose slapped him half-heartedly. "Was that necessary? It was a _compliment_." Al continued. "Although, I see where James' paleness comes from - Dom does look insanely tall in those heels. I sometimes forget she's normally the same height as me." he said with a laugh. "The last time I kind of noticed it was all that time ago in September." While this little whispered conversation was going on, Dom looked on the edge of hoisting James in the air with magical aid. There was a fire in her eyes that showed her Veela blood.

"_Little _badger, am I?" she murmured menacingly, halfway between a growl and hiss.

"No, ma'am." James mumbled, admitting defeat in the fact that he had to tilt his neck slightly to look her clear in the eye. "For Merlin's sake woman, take the heels off!"

"Very well." she said with a cunning wink, throwing one of the heels at James' arm.

"Bloody-" but he never got much of a lead at running away, as Dom started galloping barefoot, thereby giving her an opportunity to use the heels as Chinese throwing stars as soon they were in the corridors. But luckily, no injuries were inflicted that would cause Cynthia to start a vendetta against the Head Girl. Compared to these events, nothing else happened in the lead-up to Rose's birthday the following day.

"Oh Rosie! Rosie-Posie! Rose, for Merlin's sake!" These exclamations were done by Roxanne, Lily and Dominique in turn in an attempt to wake the birthday girl up.

"Happy birthday Rose, and please get your cousins out!" one of her room-mates grunted sleepily. "And _no_, I _don't_ care if one of them's Head Girl. Authority _can_ be removed." This lead to a scarily pompous smile on Dominique's face. Lily mumbled a discreet 'you look like Uncle Percy with that on, take it off'. Dom blew a raspberry.

"Alrye, alrye, I'll getter." Rose slurred drowsily, bedhair popping up from the covers.

"There's that bee-you-tee-ful face." Lily said in her most adorable voice, stretching out the syllables of 'beautiful'. Dom and Roxanne mumbled 'bedhair, Lils?' which lead to death glares from Rose as she trotted Bambi-style in her pajamas to the shower.

To avoid time-wasting (and antsy reactions from Rose's dorm-mates, who were quite strict on personal space), the three female cousins had gone down to the Great Hall.

"So, to say properly now you've woken up..." Roxanne started, and then the Potter brothers popped up from under the lion table to join her in unison. "Happy fifteenth Rosie!" they all chorused. Rose's grin was lop-sided as she snuggled into Al.

"Say Rose, what had you slurred when you graced us?" Lily asked. Rose laughed.

"I _said_ 'alright, alright, I'll get up'." she replied. "Anyway, where are my-"

"Presents? You'll get them." Al said nonchalantly. Lily winked. Rose harrumphed. It was a fun day, but peaked when Al led Rose to the Room of Requirement after dinner. "Albus Severus, why have you blindfolded me? Sure James' ideas-"

"James may have had something with the current situation..." Al trailed. "...but I merely blindfolded you innocently for you to see this..." he smiled, leading her forward through the Room's door, which changed on his thought, taking the blindfold.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSE!" several voices chorused. Rose gasped. Several Hogwartian friends and acquaintances were there, alongside the scattered family members. The first thing Rose did was scan the room, then turn back to Al, nearly cracking his midriff with the ferocity of her hug. Al responded with a strangled cough.

"Merlin, woman... windpipe..." he croaked, but only Rose heard him as the rest of the guests were laughing uproariously at the incident. Dom and Hermione intervened.

"Let him go." the Head Girl chuckled as Rose felt well-known arms pull her away.

"I agree sweetie. Spare Al a moment to breathe." Hermione said gently. Rose smiled.

"Mum! Don't you have work?" she queried. Hermione laughed - Rose really was her in miniature, treading that fine line between rebel and teacher's pet that had fun.

"Some family couldn't get off, but would I miss your birthday?" Hermione asked, an almost-obvious expression on her face. Rose smiled sheepishly and shook her head. "Gosh Rosie, fifteen..." Hermione mused, as a united mutter of 'oh here we go' came from Al, Rose and Dom. Hermione shushed them. "But I should save that speech for two more years." she said with a wink. Al and Dom exhaled while Rose turned pink.

"Mum, I love you, but please don't tell birth stories on my seventeenth! Aunt Ginny can do it when Al comes of age, but please spare me!" the redhead exclaimed.

"Someone call me?" Ginny Potter seemed to materialise. "Happy returns, Rose."

"Thank you, Aunt Ginny." Rose smiled, hugging her. After a chorus of 'Happy Birthday', and James sneaking Butterbeer (Ginny and Hermione decided to let it slide because it wasn't strong), things got silly after everyone had at least half a glass.

"Come on Rose, you up for it?" James hollered. Rose looked at him like he'd lost it.

"Up for what?" Rose asked, her mind on edge. James took her hand and winked.

"A stage dive." he chuckled, directing the crowd of party-goers. Rose smiled.

"Why not?" she laughed, the Butterbeer taking over slightly. "Hit it Al." Soon enough, Al was at the start of the line, with Hermione and Ginny at the end. "3, 2, 1!"

"That's it, Rosie!" her family cheered as she slowly fell back onto the pairs of hands. What Rose didn't know was that James had rigged a wizarding camera to take a picture of when she floated across the crowd. As Hermione put her daughter down, the two smiled, the former Granger pouring emotions into one look.

"Oh Rosie-Posie..." Hermione grinned, and picked Rose up and twirled her, Rose letting out a child-like laugh. Ginny and Al looked on fondly as Ginny snapped another picture. After Hermione and Ginny said their goodbyes, the party continued in full-swing and until a vaguely inappropriate hour. Needless to say, Al and Lily made all sorts of crashes and general loud noises the next day. James wasn't pleased.

"Would you please SHUT IT!" he said. Al wagged his finger disapprovingly, tutting.

"_Somebody_ shouldn't have drunk alcohol last night." the middle Potter smiled.

James made an incomprehensible noise and grabbed his forehead.

"What will we do with the drunken sailor? What will we do with the drunken sailor?"

"Be quiet, Rose!" James hissed. Al chuckled. "Where'd she learn that, anyway?"

"Her Muggle grandparents." Al smiled. Rose suddenly remembered something.

"Don't you have that detention with McGonagall, James?" she asked sweetly.

"I knew you were secretly _evil_." James mumbled, glaring at her. Rose and Al both looked affronted. Rose cast her wand and James lost the ability to speak.

"Non-verbal Langlock?" Al asked. Rose nodded merrily. "Your first non-verbal spell. You know I feel proud of you right now." Al beamed. Rose blushed as they cuddled.

"Gerroff..." she mumbled half-heartedly. "Now we need to decide with this-" but Rose was interrupted by a rumble that very slightly shook the castle. "_What_ the..."

"That was _not_ me." James automatically responded, having taken Rose's spell off.

It turned out Hugo had drowned Leonard Carmichael in chocolate. James had pompously said to him 'at this moment young Hugo, you have officially become a Weasley' while Dom deducted thirty points off Gryffindor for the prank. Long story short, both Hugo and James ended up cleaning McGonagall's office.

Spring soon dawned upon them and one day the general crew noticed a difference.

"Where's Cynthia?" Rose asked. James gave her a smile. She raised her eyebrows.

"Bridesmaid-dress shopping with Elizabeth." he said. Rose tried to stay strait-laced.

"And that doesn't bother you?" James shook his head at his cousin's question. "OK then, let me ask you an utterly honest question, James, and I want the truth."

"OK Rosie, I'm up for serious territory." the eldest Potter responded.

"Do you honestly see you and Cynthia working past your graduation?"

"Yes. Now I know you're going to say Cynth is a secret girly-girl and sees me being her groom instantly, but I know her better. When the time comes to talk about that kind of thing, we'll do it like mature adults - we will, don't look at me like that -" for Rose had scoffed at the word 'mature' "- but truthfully, you'll understand if you and Al last as long as me and Cynth have." At James' speech, Rose pouted aggressively.

"_If?_ When! When me and Al have lasted that long!" she said icily. James coughed. Just then they heard Lily's signature laugh. "Lysander, bring her down!" Rose barked

"No way, Rose! We're having too much fun! You'll wish you were here!" came the call through the open window. Luckily no staff were listening to catch the 2nd-years flying together on a Comet 1000. Time would tell for all friendships and couples.

**AN: That last line is kind of crucial since the next chapter is going to jump from Spring 2020 to Spring 2023 - so Al, Rose and their peers will in N.E.W.T. year and Lily and Lysander in O.W.L. year. And I have a few surprises in store as well as answers to some raised questions in previous chapters. Don't worry, I won't skip like nothing happened, either.**


	12. Albus, Fetch the Veritaserum!

**Albus, Fetch The Veritaserum!**

**Author Note: Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? You know, I think my creative spark might be here and there. And despite the lesbian reference in this chapter, I'm not upping this to an 'M' - I think it still deserves a 'T'.**

"Three months left. I don't believe it." Al said, lounging about on the Hogwarts grounds, lazing under a beech tree on the edge of the lake, Rose's head on his lap.

"It's a rare and happy moment when we can just relax with our friends." she said.

"Never thought I'd hear that from the N.E.W.T. obsessor." Lysander commented.

"Lily, tell your other half to zip it." Rose said, looking through the Ravenclaw and addressing her cousin. Lysander gave Rose a look. In the end, Al, Rose and Dom had won the bet about Lily and Lysander, and years of friendly feelings had changed between the younger pair. "I can let my hair down, Lysander Victor Scamander."

"Oh really, Rose Portia Weasley?" he fired back. Rose stood up to face him.

"Yes..." she trailed once Lysander got up too. "I hope you hold true to that bet in the one-eyed witch passage, Lils." Rose mumbled. The Potter siblings got up.

"I reinforce that, Rosie." Lily smiled. "Don't feel bad about being the shortest of us here. Just remember the heels in future." Rose's eyes blinked then she half-grinned.

"I will." the older redhead commented. For it was true that Al, Lily, Lysander, Hugo and Megan (another couple that had flourished) all outdid Rose in the height department. Rose and Lily laughed while Al hugged his partner. Rose mumbled.

"Sorry Roseflower dearest, what was that?" Al asked, his green eyes shining.

"Ruddy five foot two..." Rose said slightly clearer. Al laughed good-naturedly.

"I know, but then that gives me a good opportunity to do this." he smiled, spark in his eye as he picked up the slender-bodied Rose and gazed into her orbs. "A positive."

"I reach your chin!" she fake-grumbled. Lily and Lysander chuckled heartily. "This is my curse for falling for a taller guy. And don't get cleverly evil, Albus." she said - Rose had become a Legilimens by this time and was able to look Al's mind more than she ever could, inseparable since birth or not. Al leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I never think mischievous thoughts, you know that Rosie." Rose blew a raspberry.

"Luckily, I know you well enough to know that's a load of Hippogriff dung." Rose said.

"Biggest load ever, I can sense it wafting over the grounds." Lily smirked. "Actually... no joke guys, I think I can smell said stench wafting our way!" she near-gagged.

"Oh mother of mercy... Hagrid!" Lysander exclaimed, having also picked up on what Lily could smell. The younger redhead was blessed with a good nose as well as eyesight. The quartet headed over to Hagrid's cabin.

"Hagrid! Open up!" Al exclaimed, knocking on the door. Hagrid opened it cheerfully.

"I see 's on'y 'em troublemakers, then?" he chuckled as the quartet kept outside his front door to try and prevent themselves from gagging. Lily snorted comically.

"Troublemakers, us? Hagrid, you know full well that Rose tries to, now what were her words that one time? Ah yes, 'guide us to the path of righteousness'. The words-"

"o' a goody-goody." Hagrid finished. Rose blew a raspberry.

"Enough about my angelic rep. Hagrid, why is that smell protruding from here?"

"I decided to get a new Hippogriff. Y'know, ter remind me o' the old times. Goes by the name of Udolpho. Although 'e is maybe not particularly clean today."

"Not particularly? Hagrid, he stinks!" Rose pointed out, holding her nose.

"Maybe I forgot ter give 'im a bath..." Hagrid trailed uncomfortably. Rose coughed pointedly. Al mumbled something similar to 'I'm not riding him' and Hagrid chuckled.

"I know yeh're not yer dad, Albus." he said. Al smiled back, slight tenseness behind it.

"Good to know, Hagrid. Now where is the offending creature? Hurry up, before dear Rose gets overblown and stresses out over the stink." he grinned, said speech earning a 'tut-tut' from Lily and a clear mutter of 'unbelievable!' from Rose herself. Hagrid walked around to the back of the cottage, and the others followed him.

Udolpho was bronze, with an oddly calm look in his orange eyes. Lily bowed, with a smile from Lysander, the creature geek in the group. Udolpho bowed back.

"Scourguify." Lily said gently, a drizzle of soap washing over the Hippogriff. The creature shook its head and turned to Lily. Luckily Lily was more tactful than she used to be and stared back at Udolpho with a smile. The Hippogriff let out a sound that might have been a laugh. Al and Rose shared an uneasy grin, not being sure.

"He likes you." Hagrid said. "You'll definitely pass your Magical Creatures OWL."

"Will I? I thought it was 'Sander who was the best one there." Lily half-chuckled.

"I'd say, but teachers aren't allowed ter divulge students' grades." Hagrid replied, trying to bite back a laugh at Lysander's now-rosy complexion - he was usually a slightly pale colour. "An' besides, I never said who was best in that regard."

"Pwetty pwease say it's me, Hagrid!" Lily begged, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Hey! You just said I was the expert, Lils!" Lysander pouted. Lily continued bouncing.

"Deal with it, 'Sander, my lovely." she grinned. Then one of Hagrid's fourth-year students happened to appear, with some parchment in her hand.

"'Ello, Sarah." Hagrid said. "Good old Sarah Emma Rosen, one o' me best students."

"Thank you, Hagrid, for invading my middle name." Sarah laughed. "Anyway, here are those notes you wanted from McGonagall. Now I'm off to procrastinate due to my hobby." she chuckled. Hagrid laughed heartily - Sarah was a favourite of his.

"Thank you, Sarah. Give McGonagall me thanks." he said as he walked away to sort the notes in his cabin, which he'd formed into a study. Rose's interest was piqued.

"What's your hobby, then?" the seventh-year asked. Sarah jumped, her tall frame leaping in the air. She managed to compose herself enough to face Rose.

"Painting. You're Rose Weasley, aren't you?" the ashen-blonde-haired girl asked.

"That's me. I never fade away into the background." Rose said with a laugh.

"She never was one to do so. Always wanting to make a stand." Al mocked lovingly.

"Al, stop messing up my hair." Rose groaned half-heartedly - he was rubbing her already Hermione-esque frizz. Sarah couldn't help but laugh openly.

"What-" but Lily and Rose looked at each other and suddenly burst into hysterics - they were just about to ask Sarah the same question. "Wh-what kind of p-painting do you do?" Rose pondered, recovering from the hysterics fit after other introductions had been made. Sarah tried not to eye-roll at Rose's comic stutter.

"Portraits, mostly. Caricatures if I'm feeling adventurous. It's served me well in my four years here. I love my Muggle roots. I'd take the sweep of paint-brush over swish and flick anyday." she remarked fondly, a gleam in her deep dark-blue eyes.

"You're a fourth-year?" Lysander asked, noticing her Hufflepuff tie. Rose couldn't help but channel her father and mutter 'blimey!' at that discovery - Sarah was _lanky_.

"Just thought you'd seen me in the distant past but couldn't place me? No, I really am only fourteen." Sarah chuckled, her eyes swinging to Al and Rose with their arms around each other. "Aren't you two-" but Al stopped her there, his green eyes glinting.

"Cousins? Yep. But we were your age when we realised we didn't care at all."

"That's sweet. Say Albus, what would you say to having a still of Rose?"

"Fine by me, let's see your art flow. No caricature, though." Al said. Sarah laughed.

"I will not do that, don't worry. Accio art supplies." she cast, and her brushes, colours, easel and canvas turned up. "Pose, Weasley." she joked. Rose stuck her tongue out at the rhyme. "Seriously Rose, let's go off to the beech tree so you can lean." And soon enough Sarah and Rose were artist and subject.

"This is going to be art's greatest moment since Mona Lisa sat down and told Leonardo da Vinci she was in a slightly odd mood." Rose quipped, fanning out her hair slightly. Lily chuckled at Rose's pompous quip of self-confidence. "Is it a lucky guess that I'm relaxed against the tree in such a manner?" Rose queried.

"And have you never known the triumph of a lucky guess?" Sarah responded, peering over the easel to smile back at Rose and sketch a bit more of her subject's profile. Rose laughed, having a feeling what the Muggle-born was getting at. From time to time Sarah would mutter to herself - Al caught phrases like 'what blue to use?' and 'a bit of imagination never went amiss'. Eventually his curiousity overtook him.

"Oh, wow." he said, looking over Sarah's shoulder at the canvas. Sarah grinned.

"My painting skills, or Rose herself?" she asked with a smirk.

"Bit of both. Ever though of being a Muggle painter after Hogwarts?" Al asked.

"A Muggle job after a wizarding education... hmm... but maybe I can paint portraits like the ones in the corridors." Sarah mused. "It would be a waste to throw seven years into the wind when the time comes."

"Spoken like a true Hufflepuff." Rose muttered proudly, trying to keep still.

"Thank you Rose." Sarah grinned. Another twenty minutes passed. "Are you ready for the revealing of the portrait, Miss Weasley?" she asked calmly, twinkle in her eye.

"Will you hurry up? My arms are falling asleep!" Rose snapped comically.

"Okey-dokey!" Sarah chuckled, laying down the last brush stroke. Rose stretched.

"Finally the long wait is over!" Lysander exclaimed. Lily gave him a prompt slap.

"Albusssss! Stop heeer!" the Scamander boy moaned. This earned him another slap.

"Lily, are you sure that's reasonable?" Al asked in a reserved tone. Lily blew a raspberry. Sarah couldn't help but laugh at the utterly joyful antics.

"Are they always like this?" she asked, laying out the finished work. Rose nodded.

"Now_ that _is a portrait!" Al exclaimed, grinning. Rose rolled her eyes fondly. "I mean it. Rose and Sarah, I commend you both in equal halves!" he continued. Rose came over to see what Sarah had done. What she saw was an almost Austenian version of herself staring back, frozen against the familiar beech tree. She could not believe it.

"_That's _what you should see in a mirror." Al commented lovingly. Rose blushed.

"Merlin, after nearly three years, you'd think she'd be used to compliments."

"Be quiet, Lily." Albus snapped at his sister. Lily retaliated with a rude gesture.

"Oh, obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl." Lysander quipped.

"I'm not that pristine." Lily grumbled back half-heartedly. Rose laughed.

"The words 'Lily' and 'pristine' can't, and shouldn't, go together in the same context. That fiery spirit can not be tamed at all, and Lysander's an evil genius for attempting."

"An evil genius? I'd like to see that." Sarah mused. Al chuckled nervously.

"Wait 'til you get him and his twin Lorcan in the same room, Sarah. It's quite a sight."

"Lorcan caused the explosion that Dominique yelled at, not me!" Lysander protested.

"Oh that was years ago, let it go." Lily said breezily, reaching up slightly to ruffle Lysander's hair. Rose shivered. "How can you be cold in this weather, Rose?"

"I don't know Lily, but I know how to solve that." Al smiled, eyes twinkling. "Expecto patronum." And at those words, a gleaming fox ran around Rose. She smiled.

"It's a simple solution once you think it over, but weirdly brilliant to a degree of eccentricity - Patronuses can give off quite a lot of warmth. Not to mention I'm incredibly happy to be warmed be a fox, the creature of utter loyalty."

"Aren't phoenixes-" but Lily was cut off an abrupt "Quiet, Lil!" from Albus. "_Well!_" Lily harrumphed.

"As fun as this has been, I have stuff to do. Enjoy the painting, Albus, Rose." Sarah smiled. The fourth-year handed the portrait to Al and disappeared with a wink.

"Why is it that people always wink when it comes to mine and Rose's relationship?" Al muttered, whilst Rose was fighting a grin and a blush. Lily burst out laughing.

"B-because y-you two are cl-clearly adorable, th-that's why!" But then she cleared her throat. "But seriously though, September can bring a glistening three-year anniversary for you, as next April can bring a glistening two-year for me and 'Sander."

"Lysander Harry Scamander." Rose demanded, looking Lysander straight in the eye. "Did you slip Lily a potion? She's clearly on the verge of an Amortentia overdose."

"I swear I did not." Lysander replied, his eyes sparkling with honesty.

"Hmmm... sparkling with mischief. Albus, fetch the Veritaserum!" Rose demanded.

"My dear flower, fighting fire with fire isn't the best tactic..." Al trailed, trying to reason.

"I guess I won't 'accio' the private store over here, then." Rose mumbled, grinning.

"And leave an obvious trail of holes thoroughout the castle? Not your style, Rose."

"You know full well, Lysander" Rose boasted, berating the Ravenclaw for his lack of logic. "that the potions would not go in a straight line and crash like you suppose, but my magic would trace a trail of twists and turns." she finished. Lysander pouted.

"You know, dear, that is rather Muggle-esque thinking." Lily consoled mockingly.

"'Dear'? You make us sound like we're seventy, and I would like to lay off the Molly-and-Arthur vibe for a good while." Lysander retorted, fighting a chuckle.

"And what's wrong with our grandparents?" Lily, Al and Rose questioned.

"Nothing, they're lovely - as everybody knows. However, I am _not_ that old! Terms of endearment suit situations, I think." the twin defended. Al blew a raspberry.

"Hey, Lysander might have a point there." Rose said logically. Another raspberry.

"Albus Severus, have you really descended to such behaviour?" Lily asked sourly.

"Yes." Al said, pretending to mock her. Then Lily did something unexpected. Legged it towards the castle, yelling 'race ya to Hogsmeade!' afterwards. McGonagall had put in a loophole that allowed every student fifth-year and up to visit the village if they needed to. Lily was no doubt going to use a trick way there Luckily every Weasley grandchild and their close friends knew the secret passages.

"Listen, she'll be off to the third-floor, I know Lil. That'll take her time. Rosie, freeze the Willow. Lysander, try Gregory the Smarmy. And I'll go for the Hog's Head route."

"Ernie will have a go..." Rose mused, but Al patted her head gently. "He won't. You remember, my lovely, that he likes me." And at this, Rose stuck her tongue out.

Despite this, straight afterwards, they all headed off. After a slick race, Lysander and Al met up just outside Hog's Head, when a vixen Patronus bounded towards them.

"Found her. But she's got me slung over her shoulder - there was a friendly scuffle." Rose's voice came out of the vixen. The guys looked at each other, and laughed.

"Wha-?" echoed Al at the same time Lysander exclaimed "How...?" and they ran to Honeydukes. And sure enough, Lily was half-carrying Rose.

"I don't know, nor do I wish to know." Lysander mumbled, shaking his head fondly - next to Lily, Rose meant the most to him in the world. Al knew this, and said it was an example of how close the four were. Lily put Rose down, and Rose huffed.

"I beat her, and she was trying to manipulate me into lying." the older redhead said.

Lily gasped at this, and knelt down beside her cousin, looking up at her shockingly.

"In vain I have struggled, it will not do. My feelings of mischief will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love your willingness to be a victim in my cunningness." the fifth-year girl breathed. Rose chuckled heartily. Lily faked a few tears. "Oh spare us the comical crocodile tears, Lil. And how are you not a Slytherin with a speech like that?" Rose asked. Lily looked offended.

"The only 'Slytherin' part of that was the inclination of cunning. The rest of reeked of a Hufflepuff odour." she calmly stated. Lysander looked at his watch, then paled.

"Sander?" Lily asked gently. Lysander pecked her on the cheek, then stood.

"That career meeting with Brocklehurst. I'm nearly late." he breathed. "I can't believe I nearly forgot. So sorry, Lils." he continued, sparing a smile for the youngest Potter. "See you guys later - wish me luck!" he echoed. A chorus of 'good luck' called back.

"So... what does he want to do?" Rose pondered. Lily half-grinned, half-smirked.

"Well, there are rumours going around that Hagrid's retiring soon enough, so..." she left the answer hanging silently. Al clicked and punched the air, happy for his friend.

"Really? That's great! It's in his blood, that magical creature aspect." he smiled.

"But doesn't Lysander realise the 'young teacher' stigma?" Rose asked seriously.

"He does, but he'll get through it. And he won't have you two bothering him about him 'paying more attention to studies than precious Lily' and saying he pushed me aside."

"Oh we would _not _do that!" Rose said stealthily. "And he wouldn't push you anyway."

"I'll have words if so." Al butted in. Rose sighed exasperatedly and mumbled.

"What did I just say?" she repeated. Al whistled nonchalantly.

Later that month, Lily was scribbling over an essay. Rose walked into the common room and noticed her cousin studying, and couldn't help smile internally as she sat.

"What subject?" she asked, willing to put her NEWTs aside to offer OWL guidance.

"Charms." Lily muttered, eyes downcast. "And I get muddled, more often than not."

"Oh Lils... what does Brocklehurst want?" Rose asked sympathetically. Lily gulped.

"Four charms of your choice and their effects." she sighed, her wand heating up.

"Easy, easy. Level up on the accidental magic." Rose said in a soothing voice. "I hear they're asking for the difference between Feather-Light and the Hover in NEWT." she finished, with a strained frown. "How about... Rictumsempra, Glisseo, Impervius and Lumos Solem? You know those basic principles, at least." the seventh-year smiled.

"Tickling, stairs into slides... er, shielding water, and... bright sunlight?" Lily squeaked.

"Five points to Lily Luna!" Rose beamed, clapping her cousin on the back.

"And five points deducted for being hopeless." Lily mumbled under her breath.

"Now Lily Luna Potter, you listen to me." Rose stood up, and (for once with her petiteness) standing over Lily, she continued in an imposing manner. "You have a gift for subjects once you've gotten the hang of them. And if Lysander has rubbed off on you in any way, it's by giving you keen instincts once you embrace them."

"Thanks Rosie." Lily smiled, remembering bits and pieces about the principles.

"No problem, Lils." Rose grinned back. Suddenly an owl fluttered through the open window. "Who could that be- hang on... Emilina?" Rose wondered in shock, recognising James' owl. The tawny bird stretched her wings as she fluttered down, letter in her talons. Rose smiled as she registered Cynthia's writing straight away. Lily bounced on the Common Room sofa and once she'd finished her sentence, came over to read the letter alongside Rose. "Dear Rose, I have a spare night from my Healing course and realised I haven't seen you in a while. What do you say to a girls' night in once I pop by the Room of Requirement on Saturday? Love, Cynthia." Rose read happily. Lily grinned too - seeing either James or Cynthia on their breaks was nice, as they were seemingly swamped with Auror and Healer training, respectively.

"Maybe Cynthia will pillage the Hog's Head and unload Ernie's Firewhiskey barrel."

"_Lily Luna Potter!_ Pillaging? _Firewhiskey? _You're under-age!" Rose chided.

"Ramsacking, pillaging, looting, whatever you want to call it." Lily responded cheekily.

"Oh my..." Rose sighed. Soon enough April 6th rolled around, bringing Cynthia.

"Cynthia!" Lily yelled joyfully once the blonde entered the Room via the Hog's Head.

"Oomph!" Cynthia grunted - Lily had just run into her. "Great to see you too, Lils."

"Hi Cynthia." Rose greeted, throwing her arm around Cynthia's midriff. Cynthia smiled, comfort drawing into her since she was back in Hogwarts - as many people always said, it truly was a second home. And honestly, a relief from St. Mungo's.

"Oh, it's great to be back in familiar surroundings. I love my work, but I need a break every now and then. So, what's up?" she pondered, turning to her rare 'gossip mode'.

"Well we're both struggling for subsequent exams, and managing to lean on our significant others for comfort." Lily and Rose chorused. Cynthia blinked.

"That's great. But is any _news?_ You know, Muggle-borns racing around in closets...?"

"Well there was that rumour that Adele Page snuck back here to continue that heated affair with Chris Morrison even though she's graduated..." Rose muttered. Cynthia's snort clearly couldn't be covered. Adele Page was currently an admin at Mungo's.

"Odd situation, considering Chris' sister Julia just came out of the closet and is gladly waving the flagship with our dear cousin Molly." At Lily's news, Cynthia jumped. She knew Molly was not interested in guys - all the people that knew her did - but to saunter along to a thing like that with pride didn't seem like her.

"Darcy-like pride seemed more like Lucy's thing." Rose said, bitterness lacing her tone. Lily bit back a giggle, understanding the reference thanks to Hermione.

"There is no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other women." the younger redhead laughed. Rose groaned comically.

"Julia hasn't slighted Molly, I'm sure." Rose responded. "We would know."

"And being caring close-knit cousins, would pounce on Julia with rage." Cynthia said.

"True, true." Lily laughed. "How's James? It seems he doesn't have time for letters."

"Occasionally the Aurors pass by St. Mungo's after missions, regrettably - I've had to treat a few of his colleagues. And he comes along in those cases if he's on the team. It makes for... interesting meetings." Cynthia paused here, ruffling her fringe. "And we always try to make Sundays free if James isn't bogged down with paperwork."

"Just makes me wonder whether real life will get in the way." Lily mused.

Cynthia smiled, but many emotions were behind that smile - it wasn't a singular grin. Later that night, Rose crept into the seventh-year dorms - straight for Albus.

"Hey." Al smiled, sensing a familiar grip. Rose nuzzled him contentedly. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to be with you." Rose sighed, wistful for both her past and future.

Soon enough, Lily and Lysander had finished their OWLs and Rose was looking forward to the fruit of her labours with the NEWTs - Al was just glad to have them done. Rose woke up on graduation day with snakes in her stomach.

"Slytherin snakes in my Gryffindor stomach..." she breathed. But a few hours she was up alongside Al and Katherine Macmillan, among others, getting her congrats from Neville and McGonagall. As Al and her looked over the grounds, she smiled. So many good times, and now she was off to start her life. Surprisingly enough, both Al and Rose both aimed to be Potioneers. Back in sixth-year, Rose had turned Al purple through an accident. But she had the solid focus to get her dream job.

"How does it feel?" Al muttered down at his cousin who had become so much more.

"To look over this scene for the last time? Odd. I'm sad, happy, nervous and ballsy."

"All at once, Roseflower? That's what I love about you - never afraid to deal with things. And you know I will always love you for it." Al smiled as Rose leaned up to kiss him. Both of them were unaware that James, covered by the Cloak, had snapped a picture while they were talking just then, the sunset gleaming on them.

The future was waiting, whether it be ten simple years, or decades, of adventure.

**AN: Phew! After a hiatus I hate my brain for, all there's left is the epilogue of September 2041 to do. This story has been a constant for a long time and I'll have mixed feelings once I speed through the epilogue.**


	13. The Children Can Start Their Lives

The Children Can Start Their Lives

Author Note: Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope, because I won't start my epilogue with 'Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year'.

Rose Potter woke up as the September sun gleamed its rays through her and Albus' bedroom window. She got a jolt in her stomach - she couldn't help it. It dawned on her that her two children - her pride and joy - were off to Hogwarts for the first time. She remembered all the lovely September firsts she'd experienced - and with a beam on her face, realised she and Al had been more than cousins for twenty-one years to the day. Rose slipped into her blue dressing gown with gold trim and slipped across the hallway to enter Zoe's bedroom - but just because Zoe was born first (twelve minutes older than her sister), it didn't mean she would get up first.

"Zoe, darling..." Rose whispered, running a hand through her daughter's black locks. "Zo, it's September first..." Rose murmured in the eleven-year-old's ear with a laugh. Zoe stirred and blearily opened her eyes. The brunette's hands ran over her head.

"What was that, mum?" she said, noticing Rose's blurry outline by vivid flaming hair.

"September first, darling!" Rose said. Zoe squeaked, and reached for her container. "Got them for you." Rose smiled, helping her daughter put in contact lenses. "Now how about we check on that sleepyhead?" the mid-thirties woman asked as Zoe muttered 'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts...' under her breath excitedly. Mother and daughter crept across the landing to open Melanie's door. "Alohomora." Rose cast.

"That is cheating!" Zoe giggled. Rose winked and tiptoed over to redheaded Melanie.

"Melanie... Mel..." Rose smiled, tickling her youngest on the nose. Melanie squirmed.

"Melanie Rose Potter!" Zoe gasped as Rose quickly shushed her, cracking a smile.

"Mmmm." a fragile mutter sounded from the bed. "Zoe, lemeloe." an intelligible one followed. "Too early." the ginger child finally said coherently. Rose had an idea.

"Mel, if you get up, you get yours and Zo's favourite." she promised, eyes shining. Melanie's eyes eased open at the prospect of salmon sandwiches.

"Salmon? You didn't use that to get me up!" Zoe protested as Rose offered a groggy Melanie her glasses. After blinking a few times, the sleepyhead stretched in her PJ's.

"_You_ didn't need salmon. You needed another 's' word." Rose laughed. Melanie realised the day and clapped frantically as Zoe continued her 'Hogwarts' mantra.

"What's this?" Al asked - he had woken up and noticed the noise. "September first?"

"The girls get salmon sandwiches, we settled this. Don't blame_ me_." Rose grinned.

"I blame _you_." he said, pointing an accusing finger. Rose did her innocent eyes.

"Why do you blame mum?" Zoe asked. Rose laughed, rubbing Zoe's hair. At this point, the little family started walking down to the living room of Grimmauld Place - Harry had given it to Al as a graduation present when he and Ginny moved into Godric's Hollow. Of course, Grimmauld was akin to the Burrow in its coziness now.

"I had an insane craving for salmon when I was pregnant." Rose murmured fondly.

"It was hell." Al grumbled. "Your Aunt Cynthia had to treat a certain _someone_ for salmon addiction. I swear to this day that you two even smelled like salmon when you were born!" At this, Zoe and Melanie giggled like maniacs while Rose muttered '_total _exaggeration' and slung an arm around Zoe, smiling - the brunette already reached her mother's shoulder at eleven. The expert Potioneer fought back a grin.

"You're so tall already, Zoe!" she muttered fondly. Zoe shrugged her shoulders.

"Dad's already told me that I might have his genes." she responded. Rose groaned.

"Rose, you're going to be looking _up_ at her by their OWLs." Al laughed.

"Oh damn, I sincerely hope not..." Rose fake-whined. Melanie took pity on her.

"Aw, mum. I'll stay small so you can always be the taller one of us two."

"Thanks Mel. Just don't let Zoe sling you over her shoulder if she gets that chance."

"I promise." Melanie's brown eyes sparkled with mischief. Hermione had nearly been on the verge of happy tears when she saw that her second grandchild had inherited the Granger eyes. "And Zo won't get away with alliterative 'Midget Melanie' either."

"Time will tell." Al smiled - the last eleven years had been the best so far. "Now how about you two get dressed while I cook breakfast?" The girls' eyes gleamed with ecstasy and they bolted back upstairs. After breakfast, Melanie and Zoe poured over their parents' yellowing old schoolbooks with them, many laughs among it all.

"Hey, no cheating to look at our first-year text!" Rose chided. The twins pouted.

"Aww, Rose! How can you say 'no' to that?" Al pondered, smiling. Rose huffed.

"Easy. I _invented_ that pout. They get all of it from me." she replied.

"Muuuum!" Zoe and Melanie fake-wailed in unison. Al burst out laughing.

"She's right, girls. Your mother's used that pout many times. Your Aunt Lily crumbled to it once, and she ended up wearing a green bridesmaid dress."

"It was down to white or green and I simply _refused_ to look like a forest!" Rose said.

"Come to think of it, where_ is_ your wedding photo? I think Aunt Lily looks rather good in green." Zoe smiled. "And Uncle Lysander's blue cummerbund matches his eyes."

"Always one with the fashion sense..." Melanie mumbled. Zoe stuck her tongue out.

"Merlin... _Uncle _Lysander... you remember when we teased Lily mercilessly?" Rose asked. Al nodded, holding back a laugh. "James and Cynthia paid up nicely."

"As much as reminiscing is nice, I think you two-" Al grinned at his daughters "-would like to get going." he finished. Plural shrieks of joy were the response he got.

"I'm going to have the most adventures!" Melanie said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Zoe elbowed her lightly, shaking her head at lightning-speed, raising her brows. But in that commotion, they failed to see they had a Floo call.

"Who's going to have the most adventures?" Harry's head, the mess he called hair heavily patched with grey and the occasional silver, asked as it poked out of the fire.

"I am!" Zoe and Melanie chorused, smiling. Their father sighed comically.

"Hey dad. Aren't you supposed to be going over reports for tomorrow?" Al greeted.

"Even the Minister can slack. And besides, they must be getting sick of me."

"Oh hardy-ha. And let me guess. The Auror Head and Deputy Minister can slack too."

"Got it in one." Harry deadpanned. Zoe and Melanie gasped. Their most revered family were pulling sick days! Their mother would be going mad! "And we're coming."

That remark from Harry changed the girls' opinion. "Yep, me, Ron and Hermione are popping by 9¾ and then lounging about Godric's Hollow all day." he finished.

"Sure you don't need picking up?" Rose had heard Harry and walked over.

"I'm still alive and kicking, Rosie. Sixty-one is hardly-" but Harry coughed. Rose gave him a look. "I'm fine. Need to kick up the Vitamin C levels." he said. "Ron and Hermione will-" another look from Rose "-come and pick me up, and they are spring chickens as ever. " Harry finished. Rose could be such a worrywart with health.

And soon enough, the family of four were at King's Cross. Zoe suddenly went white.

"You sure _we_ won't crash?" she whispered, stressing the 'we' for security reasons.

"Of course. Neither of us have." Rose put her hand on Zoe's shoulder, smiling kindly.

"Geronimo!" Melanie grinned, running head-first. Zoe shook her head at Al and Rose.

"Wait for me, Mel!" she hissed comically, following. Their parents trusted them enough to let them go in first. The quartet soon saw the billowing smoke.

"Over here you lot!" Cynthia called. Al caught her ear followed her voice. A minute later, the blonde-haired hellion otherwise known as Sidney raced up to them.

"Hey Mel, Zo. Hello Uncle Al, Aunt Rose." James and Cynthia's eldest beamed.

"Hi Sid." Rose smiled. Zoe beamed back. "And the other criminals?" Rose teased.

"We resent that!" James and Andrea - Sidney's younger sister - hollered back.

"Oh don't mind them." Cynthia grinned as her husband and daughter walked alongside her. "They're just on a pranking ban. And this one..." she trailed and pointed to James. "...is trying to corrupt Andrea in every pranking way before she gets on the train. It's been his ambition since both she and Sid were born."

"They were born for it! My manic agility and Cynth's brains? Ideal!" James defended. "Well Sidney will look out for Andi, Zoe and Mel. Won't you?" Cynthia asked tensely.

"Of course." Sidney replied. This responded in hugs from the three girls. Suddenly a blue light materialised on site. The Golden Trio were back on their home turf.

"Surprised?" Harry asked, slightly broken glasses on his face as Sidney and Andrea hugged him. "I'm sure the newbies will master the spells quickly." he said as Cynthia mumbled 'overloading them with arrogance, Harry'. Hermione laughed at that.

"Of course I only tried to use simple ones myself, but they all worked for me. Example, occulus reparo!" she said confidently, muttering something afterwards.

"What was that? 'Having to fix his glasses for the zillionth time'?" Ron joked.

"Tsk, tsk, Hermione. Oh it's great to back here." Harry sighed nostalgically.

"I can guess. Only two years left for me." Patricia Lupin had walked over, her hair changing colour due to emotional override. Dominique ruffled her hair and grinned.

"Just think, you can buckle down and in a year you might get what you want."

"Head Girl..." Patricia smiled - it had been her dream since Neville had unexpectedly made her Prefect the year before. Harry turned to Rose.

"I suppose Lily and Lysander are turning up later?" he pondered.

"You know how Lily is with time. But she might pull out a miracle for Klaus' first year."

"And Hugo and Megan?" Harry asked, his eyes drinking in the historic sight.

"Should be here soon - no doubt Henry will throw a tantrum like Lily did years ago."

"Only a year for him." Hermione said. "Besides, Max is only a fair two years older."

"Pats! Put me down!" Melanie giggled. Hermione and Rose followed the voice to see Al laughing as Patricia's willowy figure, adorned with pink hair now, piggy-backed the much smaller Melanie, Patricia trying hiss a funny 'never!' into her little cousin's ear.

"There's your first adventure done, Mel!" Zoe laughed, as Patricia winked back at her. Putting Melanie down, the Lupin girl beckoned Zoe over to look the twins in the eyes.

"Now, I know that you two are skilled in wit and basics to get yourself out of trouble but if someone gives you a hard time, who's the one person you can count on?"

"Trusty cousin Pats." the twins chorused. Al saw as their admiration for Patricia made the older girl's eyes water and turn blue as she crouched to hug them both.

"Damn straight." the sixth-year said, cringing slightly as she heard Rose's hiss of 'Patricia Lupin, don't curse in front of my girls!' beside Dom's laughter. Hugo and Megan turned up a minute after with Max and Henry. Zoe and Melanie also knew Max, as a year older, would show them some ropes too. Soon enough, all the older students (Patricia, Sidney, Andrea and Max) were on the train. Rose glanced up at the clock. Ten fifty-eight. Al had seen it too. She looked into brown and green.

"Zoe Martha and Melanie Rose, of all that me and your father have done, you two are the things we are proudest of. Now let the Hat embrace your best qualities, make your own identity, and go enjoy those seven years." Rose had led the twins aside to make this little speech and was suppressing tears by the end of it. Al held her hand.

"I agree." he smiled. "I'm sure your older cousins will guide you, and Klaus will be in your classes, but mingle. _We_ were grateful. We love you." he grinned down at them.

"Likewise." Melanie smiled back, while Zoe nodded. Rose hugged Melanie and then kissed Zoe on the head while Melanie jumped on the train. "Come on Zo!"

"Oi, I'm coming! Remember that I'm older, Melanie Potter!" Zoe repsonded childishly. And with that, Al and Rose's daughters boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time, twenty-three years after their parents' first journey. Rose was beaming, holding back watery eyes. Al hugged her. Harry, Ron and Hermione walked over to wave.

"Hey, they'll be fine." Harry said, putting a comforting hand on his niece's shoulder.

"I know, I know." Rose said. "It's just... it feels like yesterday I brought them home."

"That's normal, Rosie." Hermione said empathically, for tears had silently streaked down the redhead's face now. Rose rubbed her eyes with her arm, then looked at Hermione. For a second, her memory flashed to back being a newbie in her school robes, beaming back at Al when he was relieved to see her that September first. But now it was her children going off, and Al and her were frequently brewing away for St. Mungo's at Cynthia's recommendation. Al said her thoughts as she leaned on him.

"The children can start their lives." he said. Rose nodded. "You were right in that proudness speech." Al finished. And she was. Rose would've never changed a thing.

**AN: And after nearly three years, 'Albus Potter's Normalcy is Shaken... Maybe' is done! If you're wondering about the Golden Trio, I imagined that by then Harry would be Minister whether he liked it or not, Hermione as Deputy, and Ron would've taken over Harry's former stand as head honcho of the Aurors. As for Al and Rose, I felt that I had to bring them full circle so there's nods to the first chapter and also one to JKR's 'Hallows' epilogue. If any readers who have stuck with me to the very end want any fourth-generation one-shots, I'll be glad to write them - let's face, that generation is very rarely hinted at anyway.**


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